Twitter mulling 10,000 character limit for tweets

Twitter is considering raising the number of characters allowed in single tweets to as many as 10,000 characters, way beyond the current limit of 140. That is about 2,000 words. The increase could come about by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

Twitter is currently testing a version of the plan, known internally as "Beyond 140," that would still show just 140 characters per tweet, but a user could click on a link to see a larger continuation of the post, reports Re/code.

Issues such as how many users can be mentioned in a single tweet are said to be under consideration. Besides, the company is planning to talk to analytics and other partners for preparing them to handle the longer tweets. Here is what company Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has tweeted about its development plans.

Ars Technica is calling the plan "terrible," adding, with assumed apologies to Shakespeare: "Brevity is the soul of tweet." When users know they can write as much as they want, the very essence of the communication will change and Twitter will risk losing its "quickfire, off-the-cuff gems," says Ars.

It is one more controversy for Twitter. On Tuesday (5 January) the company briefly suspended the account of Ammon Bundy, the head of an Oregon militia that seized a federal building in a wildlife refuge in the state. But a few hours later he was tweeting again.