China's Weibo massively increases character limit, pressuring Twitter

It looks like 2,000 characters is the new 140.
Weibo, China’s microblogging platform that's often compared to Twitter, will reportedly expand its 140-Chinese-character limit on messages to as much as 2,000, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Twitter twin said it will launch a trial with the new character limit on Jan. 28. A month later, the update will roll out to the rest of its 500 million users.

Posts will show only the first 140 characters, and readers will need to click an “enter” button to see the full message

“According to Weibo’s big data, only about 10 percent of original posts surpass 120 Chinese characters,” a Weibo spokesperson told the South China Morning Post. “But we are extending the text limit to offer greater choice and a better user experience. It will be available to our VIP members from Jan. 28 and the rest of the public from Feb. 28.”
The report follows a similar announcement earlier this month from Twitter, which is said to be testing a new product that lets users share up to 10,000 characters — a few steps above Weibo’s limit.
The idea of giving users more space for messages generated a lot of controversy considering Twitter’s 140 character limit has been a defining feature since its launch nearly a decade ago (Also, hello, tweetstorms?!). Twitter's new plan may (or may not) launch later this quarter.
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