An opinion on Tweeting

Rumour has it that Twitter may be tweaking its 140 character limit. CEO Jack Dorsey, hinted that the per-tweet count could rise (some say up to 10,000 characters).

Is this a good or bad thing? Brevity with social posts is a desired trait and has been a key success factor for Twitter. Isn’t that their whole mantra? A tweet takes seconds to look at. Do people want to be receiving Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeets?

What is surprising is that the public is aware of these happenings. Someone at Twitter needs to pull on the reigns. Loose lips sink ships.

Twitter has been under pressure lately but to change its formula requires extensive marketing research. Has this been done already? Know your audience, know its needs, wants and preferences. Design survey research which asks the right questions and introduces no biases. And, don’t create an atmosphere for speculation. The loudest voices will influence the conversation and what people really want may be overlooked.

Yes we’ve all been challenged to create a tweet in 140 characters and maybe this limit needs to be looked at, but Tweets like posts are about two principles which guide social media: being informative and/or being entertaining. Keeping it brief is the key to future Twitter success.