Twitter to ditch 140-character limit for photos, gifs and user handles

Changes to Twitter's 140-character limit for tweets will come into effect on 19 September, according to reports, after which media attachments, handles and quoted tweets will no longer be included in the cap.

The company announced in May that it planned to relax the rules surrounding its character limit for tweets, but didn't say exactly when this would happen.

The new date comes from the Verge, which cites sources familiar with Twitter's business operations.

The changes means things like photos, GIFs, videos and polls will no longer count as characters within tweets. Additionally when replying to a tweet, @names will no longer count towards the 140-character limit.

Other changes include the ability to retweet and quote your own tweets, as well as being able to respond to other users without having to begin a tweet with '.@'. Instead, new tweets that begin with a username will reach all your Twitter followers.

Twitter hasn't said whether links, which currently take up 23 characters, will still count towards the limit, meanwhile the Verge's sources said that plans for the rollout may change.

Twitter dumped its 140 character limit for direct messages in July. The company was previously reported to be considering extending its character limit for regular tweets to 10,000, a plan that was condemned widely by users.

IBTimes UK has contacted Twitter to verify the Verge's claims. Either way, Twitter's more lenient attitude to tweeters will come as good news with those with a lot to say or frequently find themselves being cut off halfway through a senten