Update! We just got an official statement straight from Twitter today. It turns out (sadly) links will still count towards your 140-character count. Photos, GIFs, Polls, Quote Tweets and videos will not, however. What else is scheduled to change in the next few months, according to their blog? Twitter handles (@name) will no longer count as characters when you are replying to a Tweet. If you're just shouting out a handle in your post, that will still take away from your 140-character allowance.
Additionally, users will now be able to Quote Tweet and Retweet their personal posted content. Did you Tweet selfie magic six months ago that went under the radar? Maybe you only had three followers, and now you have 3 million. RT that shiz and let it rake in the hearts it deserves. Such a good idea.
Finally, the social site notes we can say peace out to ".@," saying, "These changes will help simplify the rules around Tweets that start with a username. New Tweets that begin with a username will reach all your followers. (That means you'll no longer have to use the ".@" convention, which people currently use to broadcast Tweets broadly.) If you want a reply to be seen by all your followers, you will be able to Retweet it to signal that you intend for it to be viewed more broadly." There you have it!
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Every Twitter user ever can relate to tweeting a fire meme and then not having enough characters left to provide the accompanying necessary commentary. You end up typing out something short and stupid like "me af rn," which never seems to fully describe the sentiments in your head. It's a rough life. Twitter finally realized how many first world problems they created because of this issue and decided to do something about it. No longer will we be forced to stifle the thoughts in our head when we want to tweet a photo or link.
Bloomberg notes, the social media site will stop including pictures and links in the 140-character count. Right now, tweeting a link to that one shirtless picture of Zac Efron will cost you 23 characters. If you're anything like us, you've got many more wonderful things to say about his bod than the remaining 117 characters could possibly allow.
Twitter will stop counting photos and links in the 140 characters #finally pic.twitter.com/Db5noT9ZxX
— Tom Bellingham (@TommyWTF1) May 16, 2016
You might see the changes appearing in the next two weeks but don't hold your breath just yet. The choice to roll out this feature has not been made public as of right now. Here's hoping this dream becomes a reality because Mariah Carey has a new E! show and we need to link this sexy #moment to all of our Twitter followers right meow.
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