Twitter shocked the world this week. The social network that made 140 characters a commonly acceptable form of digital interaction has now changed the foundational element of their social platform.
Enter 280-character tweets, as announced in September by Twitter CEO @jack Dorsey.
This is a small change, but a big move for us. 140 was an arbitrary choice based on the 160 character SMS limit. Proud of how thoughtful the team has been in solving a real problem people have when trying to tweet. And at the same time maintaining our brevity, speed, and essence! https://t.co/TuHj51MsTu
— jack (@jack) September 26, 2017
The rollout of 280-character tweets had many on the Internet thoroughly entertained (among other adjectives being shared) with predictable outrage and wit.
While this post isn’t going to debate the merits of using 140 versus 280 characters, we do want to offer a tip of the cap to those who offered something unique with two times the amount of space to be creative and craft compelling copy.
(That is, of course, something we tend to admire over here at Grammarly…)
So without further ado, we present, without judgement or interpretation, our favorite 280-character tweets that have been shared so far. Oh, and be sure to scroll to the very end to vote for your favorite.
1. @jimmykimmel
Hey guys! I feel SO sorry for those of you who have to abbreviate tweets because you only have 140 characters. Soooooooo lame! Anyway, what’s everyone doing today? I’m just type-type-typing away! SO many characters! Talk to you soon. #blessed #280characters #abcdefg
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 27, 2017
2. @googlearts
#280characters #Mondrian ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛???????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛?? ?????⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛?? ?????⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛?? ?????⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛?? ?????⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛??
— Google Arts&Culture (@googlearts) September 28, 2017
3. @OregonZoo
Otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters otters pic.twitter.com/WAKrKTQDYS
— Oregon Zoo (@OregonZoo) September 27, 2017
4. @JustinWong
Howdy. I’m the 280-character sheriff. I’m here for easy retweets while this is still novel.
? RT RT RT RT RT RT RT RT RT ? RT RT ? RT RT RT RT ? ?
— Justin Wong (@JustinWong) September 28, 2017
5. @PopeyesChicken
More room to Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove that chicken from Popeyes! #280characters
— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) September 28, 2017
6. @WaterAidUK
Water, by Olivia Taylor ???
Water is pure, Water is natural, Water is healthy, Water can help all
Water is simple, Water is free, Water can help the lives, The lives of you and me #280characters #NationalPoetryDay #nationalpoetryday2017 ???????????? pic.twitter.com/Kei4wRstkN
— WaterAid UK ? (@WaterAidUK) September 28, 2017
7. @feytastic
Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.
— fey (@feytastic) September 27, 2017
8. @Mariners
┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| _ ┻┳| •.•) This is a bad idea. ┳┻|⊂ﾉ ┻┳|
— Mariners (@Mariners) September 27, 2017
9. @sokane1
*sees 280*
CONSCIENCE: “don’t do it.”
*still 223 left*
“srsly don’t.”
*closes eyes*
SOME BODY ONCE TOLD ME THE WORLD IS GONNA ROLL ME I AIN’T THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED SHE WAS LOOKING KIND OF DUMB WITH HER FINGER AND HER THUMB IN THE SHAPE OF AN L ON HER FOREHEAD WELL,
— Sean O’Kane (@sokane1) September 27, 2017
10. @NYSE
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding…room for more bell dings with #280characters
— NYSE (@NYSE) September 28, 2017
11. @umterps
Fear The ??????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? #280Characters worth!
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) September 28, 2017
12. @Channel4
BREAKING: The world’s problems will not be solved by arguing with strangers on Twitter. We’ll update you when we have more on this story.
UPDATE: The world’s problems will still not be solved by arguing with strangers on Twitter, even with 280 characters to play with.
— Channel 4 (@Channel4) September 28, 2017
13. @FLBarbella
#280characters ╭━━━━╮ ┃#TWEET ┃ ╰━━┳━╯ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ╭━━━╮ ┃▍ ▍┃ ╱ ┃ ▔▔ ╰━┓ ┃ ╰━┛┃ ╰┳━┳━━╯ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ━━━┻━┻━━━━━━━
— ? Fernando Barbella (@FLBarbella) September 27, 2017
Now that you’ve seen our favorite 280-character tweets, it’s time to vote.
