If you’re a social media guru and a whizz with words, but have had your genius hindered by the 140-character limit instilled by Twitter, then boy have we got news for you: Twitter has recently announced that you will now be able to tweet up to 280 characters!
Twitter initially implemented the 140-character limit to resemble the format of SMS text messages, which is how tweets were distributed before the release of mobile apps. However, following some research, they have discovered that those tweeting in English often hit the 140-character limit. Consequently, they recognised that this isn’t the result of expertly succinct journalism, and have acknowledged the need to increase the length of their character limit to allow their uses to be more expressive. Whilst the character increase is said to be on a trial period, there is a firm belief that the new limit will benefit the Twitter community and therefore become a mainstay. RIP short tweets.
So, there you have it, you no longer have to sit there for hours trying to work out which grammatical atrocity to commit in order for your tweet to be Twitter-feed ready. Time to celebrate with a doubly awesome tweet I think! #280
Instagram 800 million users
Instagram have announced that their monthly users have reached the 800 million mark, a whopping 100 million up from their previous statistics from April. What’s more is that over 500 million of these users pop in to use the Facebook-owned app on a daily basis.
This is the fastest growth period Instagram have experienced and follows the announcement that Instagram now have 2 million advertisers. Doing well it seems. The hugely impressive stat has been put largely down to video, as the production of video through the app has quadrupled over the past year.
For example, Stories (Instagram’s Snapchat clone) – Good Evening Mr. Zuckerberg 😉 – has over 250 million users, with the GIF-like Boomerang format making up 25 percent of Instagram Stories. Crikey.
That’s not it though. Instagram have also added interactive polls to their Stories, where people can post an image or video, ask a question and let their users offer their opinion on your everyday dilemmas. Risky. Moreover, they have implemented the ability to grab the colour from a picture you post and use it for your text. Two very jazzy new features that are sure to have users going crazy. Instagram is making strides towards world domination at this rate, and it’s no surprise considering the endless possibilities the app provides. Not part of the Insta army yet? Well the figures suggest you will be soon. Bravo Instagram, Bravo.
LinkedIn Geo-Filters
LinkedIn, yes you heard me, LinkedIn have now become the latest social platform to borrow one of Snapchats features.
Users are now able to add location-based filters onto videos that they record and post directly through the LinkedIn app. Therefore, if you’re at an event and record a video of your experience, you can show fellow users what exact event you’re at with a filter. The feature is debuting at the Grace Hopper Celebration event, as shown by the groovy picture below, but the company says it aims to provide access to the feature for many more events in the future.
If you weren’t already impressed enough, the Geo-Filters are designed to match the conference badges worn by attendees, a brilliant idea that is sure to be a hit among individual users and businesses alike. Plaudits to you savvy people at LinkedIn.
