Twitter Handles No Longer Count Toward 140-Character Limit

More room for conversations.

By Luke Reilly

Twitter has today confirmed that Twitter handles in replies will no longer count toward the 140-character limit on Tweets.

The social media juggernaut has outlined that who you’re replying to will appear in small text above the Tweet, rather than within the text of the Tweet itself, leaving users the maximum 140-character limit to conduct conversations.

When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet

“When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet,” explained Twitter product manager Sasank Reddy in the company’s announcement.

Users will be able to tap on “Replying to…” in order to “see and control who’s part of your conversation.”

Twitter handles used within original, non-reply posts will still factor into the usual character limit.

According to Reddy Twitter has conducted tests of this new experience and found that “people engage more with conversations on Twitter.”

Twitter has been progressively easing up on what eats into Tweet space for some time, and has previously removed quoted Tweets, links, and attached pictures and GIFs from the character limit. The company remains otherwise committed to the 140-character limit.

The new tweak follows news last week Twitter may be considering a paid, premium version of the platform for some users.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

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