New Twitter rules make it even easier to get your message across, reach your customers, and amplify your Twitter ROI. These changes – which were announced mid-May 2016 and will take effect in coming months if they are not already live – are quick, simple and easy to digest. Take heed of them now and everyone will think you’re so with it.
The new Twitter rules: 5 rules to amplify your Twitter ROI
1. Photos and videos don’t count towards the 280-character limit
Previously, photos and videos took up about 24 characters. In coming months photos, videos, and other media won’t count towards the 140-character limit, giving you a bit more room to share your message, mention relevant handles, or cram in a few hashtags.
2. At the start of your tweets, handles don’t count towards the character limit
The old Twitter rules counted every character of each handle mentioned (for example, @ecoRINews) at the beginning of a tweet. Go “@RedSox” just cost you seven characters. Now, you can begin a tweet with a handle and still have 140 characters left to tweet. Be careful, though, as placing the handle inside the tweet will, in fact, count towards the limit.
3. Quote away!
You can now basically double your tweet by quoting an old tweet. Quote-tweeting still allows you another 140 characters. We expect this will create more back and forth conversations on Twitter, boosting overall engagement.
4. A Wider Reach
Any tweet beginning with a handle will be seen by all of your followers. In the past, a tweet that started with a handle was not seen by all of your followers because it was considered a reply directly to that handle. Twitter users previously skirted the rule by placing a period before the @ symbol.
Stick with me here!?! For example, if I tweeted “@NewportPolo where can I find your summer schedule?” you’d be able to see my tweet even if you don’t follow Newport Polo on Twitter. By the way, here is their summer schedule. If I were to reply to their tweet, however, you wouldn’t be able to see the reply unless I retweeted it.
5. You can retweet yourself!
You can retweet and quote your own tweets. If your tweet starts a thread, all of your followers will be able to read your insightful thoughts. This means you can use RT’s to tie a longer message together.
If you’ve yet to get in the Twitter game, now’s a good time to join. If you’re a newbie, check here for tips on getting started on Twitter. The new Twitter rules aim to make Twitter more user friendly in order to re-ignite user growth. There’s no concrete time frame on when these changes will go into effect but a little birdie told us it will most likely be before the end of 2016. Use these new Twitter rules to amplify your Twitter ROI.
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