Why Twitter's New DM Character Limit Could Be a Game Changer for Business Users The social networking site just amped up its utility as a real-time customer service center.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Amid a highly-fraught CEO shakeup, Twitter just announced a potentially game-changing alteration to its platform -- especially as it pertains to business users.
Beginning in July, Direct Messages sent via Twitter will no longer have a 140 character limit, the company announced yesterday. Now, messages can be as long as a 10,000 characters -- which could be welcome news to businesses who use the social networking service as a real-time customer service center.
While the immediacy and brevity of a tweet (whose character limit will remain at 140) can offer an instant fix for annoyed consumers, as well as a public podium for businesses to showcase consideration, sometimes resolution requires longer, private exchanges.
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And as many analysts have suggested that the future of social media lies in messaging apps -- which, in Asia, are currently being used to transact payments, play games, hail rides and more -- Twitter is likely aiming to expand its messaging capabilities. Until now, the character limit typically resulted in stuttering conversations broken up into 140-character missives.
Other changes Twitter has made to messaging recently include allowing users to send Direct Messages to other users they don't follow, as well as the launch of Group Direct Messages in January.
It has also long been rumored that Twitter, like Facebook, could be developing a standalone messaging app.
