Twitter removes 140-character DM limit

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The move will make it easier for companies to use the social network for customer service

Twitter has announced the 140-character limit on direct messages no longer exists, meaning customers can complain in longer sentences and companies can offer more in-depth responses too.

Users can now send longer direct messages from all platforms, including the official Twitter apps for Android and iOS, Twitter's website, TweetDeck and Twitter for Mac. The social network said people using other third-party platforms will see changes taking place over the next few weeks.

"While Twitter is largely a public experience, Direct Messages let you have private conversations about the memes, news, movements, and events that unfold on Twitter," the company said in a blog post. "Each of the hundreds of millions of Tweets sent across Twitter every day is an opportunity for you to spark a conversation about what's happening in your world."

However, Twitter will not be increasing the character limit on tweets, replies or content-led posts (such as images, videos or Vines) in an attempt to keep Twitter as the snappy social platform, so you'll still have to think carefully before crafting your public messages.

Twitter has been tweaking many of the features on its platform over the last few months, including a news service that is due to launch in the next year. Moments will aggregate tweets and contents, operating like a syndicated news services, but making the content relevant to you and where you are.

Kayvon Beykpour, CEO of Twitter-owned Periscope said: ""I would say that Moments and ideas like that are just extensions and reinforcements to that vision. Twitter is the only tool in the world today that actually shows you the world live, other than Periscope, so I think it's great that they're working on things like Moments to improve that."

Clare Hopping
Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.