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JK Rowling and Chrissy Teigen lead celebrity disdain for Twitter's extended 280 character limit

Earlier this week, micro-blogging social media site Twitter made a very big change by expanding the tweet limit from 140 to 280 characters.

Although a few select profiles had already been granted a trial version of the larger character limit, it was rolled out to every single profile on Tuesday [7 November] night – and not everybody is happy about it.

JK Rowling accused the micro-blogging site of ruining their USP. Copyright: [Rex]
JK Rowling accused the micro-blogging site of ruining their USP. Copyright: [Rex]

In fact, several users took to the site to blast Twitter’s decision to rid themselves of the trait that made the site so unique, and there were dozens of celebrities who were leading the disdain.

Among them was Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who wrote: “Twitter’s destroyed its USP. The whole point, for me, was how inventive people could be within that concise framework. #Twitter280characters” – a point that many agreed with.

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz went for the more simple message of: “F*** it. I want 140 back, honestly.”

Chrissy vowed to boycott the extended character limit. Copyright: [Rex]
Chrissy vowed to boycott the extended character limit. Copyright: [Rex]

A sentiment echoed by author Stephen King, who wrote: “280 characters? F*** that.”

Iggy Azalea added: “What the f*** is with all these long a** tweets.”, and Twitter pro Chrissy Teigen vowed to never use the extended character allowance, telling her followers: “I will NEVER use 280 characters nor will I favorite or retweet a tweet with them. THIS IS MY FIGHT SONG”.

EastEnders’ star Danny-Boy Hatchard pointed out that users had been asking for the site to introduce an edit feature rather than an extended character limit, writing: “Oi Twitter! Pull ya finger out and sort an edit button please, before I write you a 240 character long strong worded letter.”

However, not every celebrity is against the change, with Nick Jonas actually using the extended character limit to voice his opinion on a series of political hot topics, telling his followers: “I feel like I should start my first 260 [sic] character post by saying everything I wanted to say before.”

He went on to write: “Let’s start with mass shootings. THIS HAS TO STOP. Too many innocent lives lost. My heart breaks every time I look at the news, and see that people that showed up to pray… or go to a concert or were just f***ing walking down the street were killed.

“Next. Hate and or biased based on someone’s race or background or religious beliefs or sexual orientation or identification… THIS MUST END. We are all one.

Nick Jonas used the extended character limit for good. Copyright: [Rex]
Nick Jonas used the extended character limit for good. Copyright: [Rex]

“I choose to be apart of the understanding and acknowledgement that there is a real problem, and that we can be the solution.

“To every single person affected by any and every act of violence or hate or natural disaster. Please know that I am with you. Beyond my thoughts and prayers I am making a commitment that my social media platforms will be used as a tool to find governmental and social resolutions.”

He then praised Twitter’s decision to give its users a bigger voice, concluding with: “Being given more words to speak means being given more responsibility.

“I commend @twitter for doing their part to help us all say more, which will in turn allow us to make a bigger impact globally.”

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A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Jan 3, 2018 at 2:14pm PST

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