Twitter rolled out its new 280 character limit for tweets on Tuesday, to both the concern and delight of many.
The platform first began testing the extended tweet lengths with a select group of users in late September, a controversial announcement that caused some to question the platform’s priorities and others, desiring to be included in the test, to turn to unofficial workarounds to gain access to longer tweets.
But with the changes officially rolling out to all Twitter users in the US on Tuesday, people quickly took to the platform to test out the increased space in creative ways.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of their best efforts:
Some felt that the new character limit had given them more than they had bargained for:
https://twitter.com/Sushimibelle/status/928145807030730752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"Law and Order" used the space to quote some of the most important lines ever uttered on screen:
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories. *DUN DUN*
— 𝐋𝐀𝐖 & 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 (@lawandordertv) November 7, 2017
The NBA hoped that the extra characters would lend a touch of eloquence to any future sports complaints:
Now that we all have #280Characters, we expect your Twitter complaints about specific calls against your favorite teams to be calm, well-reasoned, and full of complete sentences. Thanks in advance for this positive step forward in basketball officiating-related discourse."
— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) November 7, 2017
The Yankees got up to a bit of showing off:
2009
2000
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1996
1978
1977
1962
1961
1958
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1923Wow. We've never been able to do that before! Thanks, @twitter. pic.twitter.com/4W1U7qpLlj
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 8, 2017
The Saints recalled last year's Superbowl:
280 Characters
280 Character
280 Characte
280 Charact
280 Charac
280 Chara
280 Char
280 Cha
280 Ch
280 C
280
28
28-
28-3
28-3 N
28-3 Ne
28-3 Nev
28-3 Neve
28-3 Never
28-3 Never F
28-3 Never Fo
28-3 Never For
28-3 Never Forg
28-3 Never Forge
28-3 Never Forget#RiseUp— Canal St. Chronicles (@SaintsCSC) November 7, 2017
Others suggested increased specifications for properly tweeting to them:
now that i have 280 characters all tweets to me must be a correctly formatted research paper. paper must include:
-12 pt times new roman
-double spaced
-works cited page
-thesis statement
-footnotes
-full bibliography
-in text citations
-MLA or APA formatting
-Submitted as .docx— alex (@mineifiwildout) November 7, 2017
The Cookie Monster shared a deep and pressing thought:
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🍪🍪🍪🍪— Cookie Monster (@MeCookieMonster) November 8, 2017
Birds rights activists used it to sound off on an important issue:
BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD
— birdsrightsactivist (@ProBirdRights) November 7, 2017
Stephen Colbert considered what Shakespeare might have to say on the subject:
We all have 280 characters? Well, as Shakespeare wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit. The soul of wit is what brevity is. Brevity? Soul of wit? They're the same thing. Like if you had brevity in one hand and the soul of wit in the other, you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart.”
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) November 8, 2017
And still others used the space to convey stirring personal narratives:
I can't drink Gatorade inside because I get too excited while drinking it and always end up making a huge mess. Now I go outside to drink it, the way people do when they smoke cigarettes. One time a crowd gathered around me to watch, and I made $3.50 in quarters
— Brendan O'Hare (@brendohare) October 5, 2017
Some cushioned their important ponderings in well-deserved empty space:
what if seinfeld still on TV?
jery get ipad
— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) November 8, 2017
And, perhaps most importantly, there was hope that the increased space wouldn't be abused to spread meaningless fodder:
https://twitter.com/JarrodAlonge/status/928070548277645312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw