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Twitter thinking about doing away with 140-character limit

Twitter might soon allow users to tweet beyond 140 characters.

Twitter might soon allow users to tweet beyond 140 characters.

(Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images)
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Less is apparently not more.

Twitter, which forces users to abide by a 140-character cap when publishing tweets, is reportedly thinking about doing away with the longstanding limit.

According to Re/Code, the San Francisco microblogging company is looking at ways to change how Twitter counts to 140. For instance, it could remove links and user handles from the count, the report, citing multiple unnamed sources, said.

Twitter has been experimenting more under interim Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, still believed to be a front-runner for the permanent chief executive job.

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In recent months, the company has appeared to be more willing to tinker with the 140-character maximum. In June, it began allowing users to send direct messages longer than 140 characters. And in April, Twitter rolled out a new feature that allows users to post longer comments with the tweets they retweet.

Twitter is hoping these measures and other company changes will entice new users to join the service and persuade existing users to up their engagement. Wall Street continues to be disappointed with Twitter’s direction, and shares are down 29% this year.

Twitter: @byandreachang

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