Twitter Gives Brands Space to Run, Brands Run Badly
Brands are making the most of more Twitter space, now that they are allowed 280 characters instead of just 140.
On Tuesday, Twitter announced it would try the longer format for tweets, and brands began expanding their messages. But padding might be a better word for it.
Turns out 140 characters was probably plenty for most advertisers, who hardly seem to know what to do with all that extra space. In fact, some of their tweets read like a grade-school student trying to fill a word count by adding "very, very, very, very" to every thought.
Twitter is testing the longer character limit because it wants more users tweeting, and the traditional 140 characters had been a deterrent for many Twitter novices. But for the faithful, 140 characters was the social service's defining asset.
Here's a look at how some brands are using the expanded space on Twitter:
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 27, 2017
Bears.
Thanks, @Twitter.
Imagine what we could do with 280 characters pic.twitter.com/oxyLqMF7wn
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) September 27, 2017
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/KkyQvjtNGI
— Durex India (@DurexIndia) September 27, 2017
last night we received the 280 character count. we traded the extra 140 for beans. not even magic.
— Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 27, 2017
At last! Now there's room for #280characters in a tweet, we can finally share the secret recipe for the Yorkshire Tea blend. Take 2 parts Rw
— Yorkshire Tea (@YorkshireTea) September 27, 2017
Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong... Island Iced Tea. 🙌#280characters
— TGI Fridays (@TGIFridays) September 27, 2017
We can't wait for the first #tweetfromtheseat in #280characters. For those days when you skipped your coffee and need the extra time.
— Charmin (@Charmin) September 27, 2017
This account has been asked to test Twitter's new 280 character limit, but as a 100-year-old brand, we believe our fans most enjoy traditional tweets with brevity, so we declined. We hope to continue to provide a fun, positive place to discuss MoonPies moving forward. Thank you.
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) September 27, 2017
