{"id":4433,"date":"2017-03-30T22:37:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T22:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/twitter-stops-counting-replies-towards-its-140-characters-on-web-and-mobile.html"},"modified":"2017-03-30T22:37:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T22:37:33","slug":"twitter-stops-counting-replies-towards-its-140-characters-on-web-and-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/twitter-stops-counting-replies-towards-its-140-characters-on-web-and-mobile.html","title":{"rendered":"Twitter stops counting @ Replies towards its 140 characters on web and mobile"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Nearly a year ago, Twitter announced<\/a> it would begin distancing itself from the requirement that all tweets could only contain 140 characters by no longer counting some things \u2013 like media attachments or @ replies towards the character count. However, it didn\u2019t begin testing the change with @ replies until last fall.<\/a> Today, Twitter says this change to replies<\/a> is rolling out to all users across the web, iOS and Android.<\/p>\n

As a refresher, Twitter was originally designed as something of a public text messaging service. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters, so Twitter went\u00a0with a character limit of 140, thinking to leave room for a username ahead of the tweet.<\/p>\n

However, the @usernames in Twitter replies did end up counting towards the 140 characters, as did other media attachments, including photos, GIFs, videos, and polls. That left precious few spaces for a user\u2019s actual thoughts.<\/p>\n

This also led to informal conventions like \u201ctweetstorms<\/a>\u201d for sharing longer thoughts, and \u201cTwitter canoes<\/a>\u201d \u2013 large, multi-person conversations which eventually break down because so many people join, there are no characters left to actual post responses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Twitter has been trying to rectify the problems with its\u00a0140 character limit over the past several months by changing its\u00a0user interface and lifting various\u00a0technical restrictions. It already stopped <\/a>GIFs, images, videos, and quote tweets from counting towards the 140 characters. (Links still do count).<\/p>\n

With today\u2019s change to replies, Twitter\u2019s interface on web and mobile\u00a0will now display those you\u2019re replying to above the tweet text, instead of within the tweet, which frees up more characters for your thoughts.<\/p>\n

You can tap on this \u201cReplying To\u201d field to see who\u2019s in the conversation and make changes to the reply list, if you choose. This is done by unchecking the checkboxes in the small pop-up that appears on the screen after tapping this field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The\u00a0change also aims to make reading longer conversation threads easier, because this \u201cReplying To\u201d field is much smaller and not in the tweets themselves. That way, you can focus on reading the actual posts, without having to first note\u00a0the usernames.<\/p>\n

There are some caveats to be aware of here, however. On the tweet Compose screen, for example, this \u201cReplying To\u201d field is fairly small. It could be overlooked if you\u2019re in a hurry \u2013 making you think you\u2019re writing a fresh tweet, when really you\u2019re participating in a conversation.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s important because replies are a second class kind\u00a0of tweet. Not everyone sees your reply appear in their Timeline, even if they follow you. Instead, they only see the reply if they follow both you and<\/em> the recipient.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Replies are also tucked away in a secondary tab in users\u2019 Twitter Profile page, \u201cTweets Replies.\u201d (Twitter earlier this month updated users\u2019 profiles on mobile to display replies in the separate tab, like they are on the web.)<\/p>\n

Because of the lower visibility for replies,\u00a0users started putting a period (\u201c.\u201d) ahead of any reply they want all their followers to see, where they were referencing someone else\u2019s tweet. This, too, has become something of a Twitter convention.<\/p>\n

In addition, because the usernames of those you are replying to are no longer in the tweet\u2019s text, Twitter suggests<\/a> that you\u00a0Retweet your reply or use Twitter\u2019s\u00a0Quote Tweet feature to cite it. That is, if you start a reply, you can\u2019t really insert a dot into it anymore.<\/p>\n

The company wants to eliminate the use of the dot, but it doesn\u2019t seem like that\u00a0functionality will actually break down entirely. After all, if you choose to start a new tweet with a dot followed by an @ mention, they\u2019ll still see it as will everyone who follows you.<\/p>\n

\n

We’re changing replies so that you have all 140 characters to express yourself. <\/p>\n

Learn more: https:\/\/t.co\/PNWGilbmVd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cxBJohZc2Q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Twitter (@Twitter) March 30, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Third-party developers should be ready for this\u00a0change, as Twitter communicated with them in May. However, we will\u00a0need to wait until it rolls out publicly to see which developers then\u00a0update their apps for this shift. (Tweetbot\u2019s app is not ready, we confirmed with developer Paul Haddad, who says he\u2019ll test this after it\u2019s live and release updates in the future.)<\/p>\n

The change to replies marks an end of an era for Twitter. The company helped to popularize this format and bring it into the mainstream. Today, using the\u00a0\u201c@\u201d symbol to mention someone is\u00a0supported across a range of services, including Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Slack, and even Outlook<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

While Twitter is making these changes as a means of trying to simplify its service for users, it\u2019s really just swapping out one set of rules for another. And that can be super confusing<\/a>. TechCrunch editor Matthew Panzarino even encouraged Twitter not to go this route<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some have argued that<\/a> Twitter should lift the character limit altogether \u2013 perhaps just truncating longer posts under a URL. But that would make it more difficult to read tweets in longer conversations, because of all the clicking.<\/p>\n

Twitter says during its\u00a0tests of the new format, more people engaged with the service. The updated format will arrive in the most recent versions of the iOS and Android mobile apps, and on the web. Some will see it now and others will see it shortly after.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Bryce Durbin\/TechCrunch<\/small><\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/L6pQKXYxMfg\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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