Twitter officially announced on August 12, Tuesday that it will end the 140-character limit for direct messages (DMs), in an attempt to expand its user base, and to make its service simpler and polished. Private tweets sent through its mobile, desktop, third-party apps including Tweetbot; and the Web can now have a basically "unlimited" maximum 10,000 characters.
Twitter first informed developers of the DM change in June, and will make the update available to all users within the next few weeks, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The new feature eliminates the need to toggle between tweeting, and chatting or e-mailing.
Product manager Sachin Agarwal said that ending the character limit was the top request from customers. It allows them to speak their mind "be themselves."
Since last fall the social media giant has been rolling out major changes for its direct message service. That included features such as photo and group messaging, sharing tweets in Twitter messages, and sending links, according to The Verge.
Agarwal said that the company wants its users to have the ability to smoothly switch between public and private messaging. Businesses will also benefit from the new character limit, as it will now be easier for them to use DMs to provide customer service to their clients.
The California-based company has also been working on a standalone messaging app centered on DMs. It would rival Facebook Messenger.
Interestingly, Twitter's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) recently admitted that using the social network is "too difficult." Issues such as restrictions could prevent new users from signing up.
The company is also planning to launch Project Lighting. It will allow people without Twitter accounts to view organized packages of tweets, photos, and videos created at live events.
Whether the company will make other wholesale changes to its products in addition to the ending of 140-charcter DM tweets is uncertain. However, it is likely as the platform is an online hub where users can meet new people for friendship, romance, or business. So for now it is a first step.
Hundreds of millions of Tweets are daily sent through Twitter. That figure is based on the company's Tuesday blog post.