twitterTwitter today announced a major change to the way Direct Messages work on the Twitter platform, removing the 140-character limit that restricted the length of private messages. With the change, Twitter's Direct Message feature is on par with other chat and messaging apps, allowing for unrestricted conversation.

Twitter first announced its plan to remove the 140-character limit from Direct Messages in June, but the change began rolling out to users around the world today and will continue to become available to users over the next few weeks. The 140-character limit has been removed across the Twitter platform, which encompasses the Twitter app for iOS, the Twitter app for Android, Twitter.com, TweetDeck, and Twitter for Mac.

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. 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. That's why we've made a number of changes to Direct Messages over the last few months. Today's change is another big step towards making the private side of Twitter even more powerful and fun.

There are no plans to remove the limit from the public side of Twitter, so tweets will continue to be restricted to 140 characters. To get access to Direct Messages that have no character limits, Twitter advises users to upgrade to the latest version of the company's apps.

Twitter for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Twitter for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

TweetDeck can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Twitter

Top Rated Comments

137 months ago
Great! . . . now do that for regular tweets.
So that it will just become some sort of blog/Facebook type of thing? The whole point of it is that it's not that.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ValSalva Avatar
137 months ago
Kind of reminds me of email…
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Goftrey Avatar
137 months ago
While Twitter is largely a public experience, Direct Messages let you have private conversations about the memes
Let me stop you there.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EllieV Avatar
137 months ago
*Adds obligatory statement of not knowing that this was Twitter Rumors as opposed to Mac Rumors*
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darcyf Avatar
137 months ago
I have both a Twitter and Facebook account that I never use. I guess I am not that social.
Maybe you're not. I don't know you. But I would think not using FB or Tr would indicate just the opposite.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0098386 Avatar
137 months ago
So now the spam DMs will be full on press releases instead? Great..
Or,
change the settings so only people you follow can send you DMs?
[does the worlds largest shrug]
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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