Yesterday, Twitter launched their long-awaited #280characters campaign and released the privilege to all users. Not everyone is happy but plenty of accounts are using it to their advantage.
When there’s a big change in the social media world, it’s always interesting to turn to Twitter to find out the public’s opinions. Of course, it’s even more interesting when the news is about the platform itself. We’ll run you through all the best reactions to the news and the most interesting uses so far.
Disgruntled users
Twitter started rolling out the 280 characters to a select number of users back in September. Of course, this left a few wondering why they hadn’t been afforded the privilege. Now, everyone’s got the goods. Hilariously, many accounts are using their lengthy tweets to present their disappointment in the update. They’ve been suggesting that there are better ways of keeping the platform alive and that the change wasn’t necessary.
We wanted an Edit button
We wanted Reactions
We wanted Stickers
We wanted less spam
We wanted Stories
We wanted better analytics
We wanted audio messages
We wanted 18+ blockers
We wanted to know what Twitter is actually supposed to be used forThen they gave us #280characters ๐
— Ulrich Janse van Vuuren (@UlrichJvV) November 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/TomPJDavis/status/928172140645572609
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON#280characters— โ โฟโ (@selfdasein) November 8, 2017
More room for kindness
We can’t say we disagree. I mean, who exactly asked for 280 characters in the first place? The initial beauty of the bird-themed social platform was its micro-blogging limits. However, a lot of not-for-profitsย accounts have been using their longer tweets for heart-warming, good-intentioned purposes. That’s quite nice to see, I suppose. It’s especially useful for these charities who are looking to spread their message just that bit further.
Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood Give Blood #280characters
— GiveBlood NHS ๐ (@GiveBloodNHS) November 8, 2017
#280characters?! Well that just means we have even more space to tell you about our wonderful animals. ๐ถ๐บ
We microchip them, vaccinate them and give them full check ups. And we care for them until they're ready to meet you โก๏ธ https://t.co/UhEbdnE9TB โฌ ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/rqskpw98ms
— Battersea (@Battersea_) November 8, 2017
Limit increased from 140 to #280characters? That's nothing! Thanks to our amazing supporters we are able to continually extend the limits of what we can do to help people around the world beat poverty for good. So, thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! pic.twitter.com/LlGy6PH1Hb
— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) November 8, 2017
Soley for marketing purposes
It’s clear to see how this new update will help companies who use the social media platform. Plenty of businesses rely on tweeting to boost their marketing efforts and more characters could really help with this. The whole #280characters hashtag is a great way to get involved in an online conversation and it can be effective to use anyย recent news to promote your brand. We can’t say we think the tweets below are particularly thought-provoking, but they’ve definitely grabbed the attention of users.
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive Thru
Bring me to the Drive ThruRT if you need a friend to take the hintโฆ๐#280characters
— McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) November 8, 2017
Please buy smoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooothies#280characters
— innocent drinks (@innocent) November 8, 2017
This one from Netflix is a little more clever. They’ve played on the whole ‘characters’ thing to remind us all just how many amazing characters they’ve introduced us to over the years – it’s also quite shameful how many of those we know…
Did we do it right? #280characters pic.twitter.com/Lg2DZZgo4o
— Netflix ANZ (@NetflixANZ) November 8, 2017
Although, all these extra characters and words are just hurting our eyes. Perhaps just a load more emojis would be better:
The only good thing about #280Characters isโฆ more space for animal emojis! ๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฆ๐ผ๐ต๐ธ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฆ๐ผ๐ต๐ธ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฆ๐ผ๐ต๐ธ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐
— WWF UK (@wwf_uk) November 8, 2017
Some are just plain silly…
The British police trend of trying to be funny online is definitely not on its way out.
Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! Nee-naw! ๐๐ฎโโ๏ธ๐ฎ๐ #280characters
— Sussex Police (@sussex_police) November 8, 2017
In summary
Overall, it’s hard to say what the general consensus is. There definitely seems to be a strong divide between business accounts and just general users. We’re not entirely convinced that this is the most exciting or groundbreaking update on our favourite social platform, but it’s at least got people talking! Here are some more tweets from the general public which will get you thinking about the news. In fact, you can follow us here and try out your #280characters by letting us know what you think.
The beauty of Twitter lies in being creative within those 140 characters. If that's taken away, what is left? ๐#280characters
— Kriti v3.0โข (@kriti_vsc) November 8, 2017
Scrolling through twitter and feeling exhausted by all the small essays everyone's writing. #280characters
— Louise (@LouisePentland) November 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/KingAbsolute_/status/928183415073107968