Twitter will stop counting photos and links in its 140-character limit for tweets, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The change could be made within the next two weeks, Bloomberg quoted a source as saying.
Twitter has not yet commented on the report.
Back in January, founder Jack Dorsey said Twitter would explore ways of enabling its users to write longer posts.
Links currently take up to 23 characters of a tweet, reducing the space available to users for their own writing when sharing other online content.
The 140-character limit was originally added to make tweets fit into a text message. When the company launched in 2006, before smartphones were available, many users typed their tweets as texts before posting them.
Jack Dorsey has since described the limit as a “beautiful constraint” that “inspires creativity and brevity”.
However, Twitter has struggled to attract new users and has seen its share price decline by more than 70% in 2015.
In June 2015, Twitter announced it would increase the limit on direct messages between one user and another to 10,000 characters.
In January 2016, China’s biggest microblogging service, Sina Weibo, dropped its 140-character limit, allowing some users to write longer posts.
Former senior Google executive Omid Kordestani has been appointed as the new executive chairman of Twitter.
Omid Kordestani, 53, joined Google in 1999 and held various senior roles before leaving a decade later.
He returned last year as Chief Business Officer to advise on Google’s rebranding to Alphabet.
“It’s rare you get to be at a company with an amazing business that’s also transforming the world,” he tweeted. “I’ve had good fortune to be at three: Netscape, @google, and now @twitter.”
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Omid Kordestani was a “proven and experienced leader” who would coach him and other senior executives as well as help attract top talent to the company.
“A great chairperson is the first step towards continuing to make our board one of the best in the world, and purpose-built to serve Twitter,” he tweeted.
Twitter had said it would seek an external appointment as chairman in a bid to allay concerns about Jack Dorsey’s dual role as Twitter boss and chief executive of Square, the mobile payments company he founded.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey replaced Dick Costolo, who stepped down in July after five years in the role amid pressure to increase growth.
It is his second stint as Twitter boss, having held the position between May 2007 and October 2008.
Twitter shares rose 0.7% to $29.26 following the announcement.
However, the shares are still down almost 30% from the level at which it floated in late 2013.
Tehran-born Omid Kordestani’s appointment comes a day after Twitter said it was cutting 336 jobs, or about 8% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring to cut costs.
Twitter has announced it is cutting 336 jobs, roughly 8% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring of the business.
The job cuts will cost between $10 million and $20 million in severance pay, while the restructuring will cost between $5 million and $15 million, Twitter said.
Twitter shares rose 2% in pre-market trading following the announcement.
The move comes just days after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was confirmed as the company’s permanent CEO.
Jack Dorsey had served as Twitter interim CEO for three months after Dick Costolo stepped down on July 1.
Dick Costolo, who was Twitter CEO from 2010 to 2015, had been under pressure from investors unhappy with the company’s user growth.
In a letter to Twitter employees, Jack Dorsey wrote: “We have made an extremely tough decision – we plan to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company.
“We are doing this with the utmost respect for each and every person.
“Twitter will go to great lengths to take care of each individual in providing generous exit packages and help finding a new job.”
Dick Costolo has resigned as Twitter CEO, the social messaging company has announced.
Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey will take over as interim chief on July 1 and stay until a replacement can be found.
Dick Costolo had been under pressure from investors unhappy with the company’s user growth.
In a statement, Dick Costolo said he was “tremendously proud of the Twitter team”.
Twitter said that its board had formed a committee to undertake the task of finding a successor.
Following the announcement, Twitter shares jumped by more than 7% in trading after US markets had closed.
Twitter debuted on the NYSE in 2013 but has not been adding users as fast as investors had hoped.
In April, Twitter missed Wall Street’s forecasts for revenue growth and posted a net loss of $162 million.
Its share price has declined nearly 30% since then, and is currently trading below the price it debuted at in 2013.
Analysts remain pessimistic about the company’s ability to grow.
The research consultancy eMarketer estimates that Twitter’s monthly user base will grow just 14.1% this year, slowing from more than 30% two years ago.
By 2019, eMarketer says Twitter’s user growth rate will be just 6% worldwide.
Announcing his resignation, Dick Costolo said in a statement: “I am tremendously proud of the Twitter team and all that the team has accomplished together during my six years with the company.”
On a conference call to discuss the move, Dick Costolo added that he had decided to go now because he felt the continued scrutiny if he remained would be a “distraction” and of “no help to the company”.
Questioned on what the board was looking for in its next chief executive, Jack Dorsey said the search team would take as long as necessary, the candidate could come from inside or outside the company but added the one criteria they knew for sure: he or she should be a Twitter user.
Jack Dorsey said the most important attribute was that they “really use and love the product in every single way”.
Dick Costolo will remain on the board of the company. He has been a director since September 2009 and became CEO in October 2010.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
