Twitter’s Unique Selling “Problem”

Social media site Twitter has increased their character limit, in an attempt to allow users to express themselves more. The initial character limit stood at 140 characters but the proposed idea would see this number rising to 280.

Has Twitter lost its USP?

Twitter’s authenticity derives from providing their users with the ability to express their feelings through a 140 character tweet. Many argue, increasing the characters allows users to express more of their feelings, in greater detail. On the contrary, the majority of Twitter’s competitors already allow this, does this mean there is little to no difference between social media platforms. Are they all considered to be homogeneous platforms?
Furthermore, the initial character limit was only set in place due to technical limitations. In other words, Twitter only used this because it was based on the SMS limit being 160 characters.

How will it impact you and your business?

The obvious advantage for users would be the ability to increase the content of one’s tweet, meaning businesses will have double the space to convey their message. In terms of social media management, it can be difficult to fit enough information into a tweet to give off an impactful message, but an extra 140 characters will solve this issue. Nevertheless, this brings a handful of drawbacks. For example, the primary message may be diluted in the tweet, with more characters the issue of the content becoming boring, and users not being intrigued by what the business is offering could arise.

Please remember…

280 characters would allow more detail to go into tweets, but is that what Twitter is used for? From a business point of view, this is an advantage if it is used correctly and marketers are still creative in what they create.

Sam Hendy
Account Assistant
sam@fuel-growth.com