Twitter, with the limit of 140 characters in danger of losing its identity – Tech Fanpage

It now seems a matter of time before the trademark of Twitter gives way to quantity. The 140-character limit, always blessing the users might disappear in 2016, even before the end of the first quarter of the year. To welcome users there is the possibility to write posts to 10,000 characters, the same limit that characterizes private messages since last August. A revolution that seems to many a setback, because it threatens to overshadow the very identity of the company until it is “just” another portal where you connect with others.

This time to reinvigorate the idea it is the American portal Recode, which, citing inside sources, reveals the interest of the company and the new CEO Jack Dorsey to stretch tweets always relegated to the famous 140 characters. “Beyond 140″ is the name under which employees of Twitter are defining the project, currently being tested. A delicate procedure, because the objective is to introduce a revolution so drastic without necessarily upsetting the “look & amp; feel” of the product, which will remain paradoxically anchored to display short messages. At present, the proposed Dorsey and Co. is a variant of the social network that shows only 140 characters in the timeline, expandable once you click on the tweet. In this way the appearance of Twitter would remain unchanged, but those that were once the main contents would become a sort of title, an introduction to the actual post that reveals itself in the eyes of users with one click.

This change , still not final, is a risky bet by Twitter. Hard to say now whether, when implemented, will make a real difference, but it sure would constitute one of the most important revolutions in the social network. Fact that, in recent years, has tried in every way to catch up new horizons in order to attract more and more users and, above all, to make the product even more in monetary terms. Why, in fact, the news would help more an economic than anything else. Post would ensure more consistent to Twitter to strike up more advertising solutions and complex, an element that would provide more room for maneuver in the financial operations.

at the same time , however, Twitter is likely thus losing its identity, by removing the one that today is its key feature. A status that also ensures usability and immediacy to its contents, used to make satire, share thoughts or tell news events. This limit of 140 characters is also a challenge: the thought must be reduced to the bone, estranged from all unnecessary elements before it can be posted. This way the final content is an almost perfect and concise summary of a thought or an event. Increasing the limit to 10 thousand characters this feature ceases to exist, favoring quantity at the expense of accessibility and immediacy. His personality, in short, now threatens to give way to the times we live in.

However , the choice of Dorsey is courageous, “bold” would call the Americans. So how risky is the proposal to make the timeline no longer tied to a time factor but an algorithm, just like the one that governs the Facebook News Feed. In this way the tweets would be no evidence or downgraded depending on their popularity should, subject to a system that evaluates the potential interest. An element that would aim to counter Facebook, but which would negate the concept of “stream of consciousness”, the stream of consciousness that has given so much to Twitter. Deciding to expand the character limit and revolutionize the algorithm of the feed means that the new CEO is willing to modify even deep in the product in order to attract new users. In doing so, however, he must be to look not to disappoint the old ones. That, perhaps, in that cage are not so bad.