Character limit
Limit on the number of characters in a message
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A character limit is a limit on the number of characters in a message which is used in SMS messaging and on text-based social media platforms.
Character limits usually lead to messages being shorter and users being forced to shorten messages through the use of abbreviations, emojis and acronyms.[1]
The character limit originated with SMS messages which had a limit of 160 characters. This character limit was invented by Friedhelm Hillebrand in 1984, who determined that it was sufficient for most communications.[2][3]
On Twitter
The 160-character limit was adopted by Twitter when the site launched in 2006, 20 characters were reserved for the username, with 140 characters for the tweet.[4] The original limit was seen as an iconic fixture of the platform,[5][6][7] encouraging "speed and brevity".[8]
In March 2017, the character limit on Twitter was changed so that media attachments or mentions in replies would not increase the character limit.[9][10][11] In November 2017, Twitter increased its character limit from 140 to 280 characters.[12][13]
In 2023, Twitter boosted the character limit for Twitter Blue subscribers. In February, it was increased to 4000.[14][15] In April, it was again increased to 10,000,[16] and in June, to 25,000.[17]