The inevitable and long-awaited winds of change are blowing at Twitter. From July 1, Dick Costolo will no longer be the company’s CEO, and one of its founders, Jack Dorsey, will return to the helm. Simultaneously – and it’s unclear where this is part of a wider process – it’s just been announced in Twitter’s development community that the 140-character limit on DMs is soon to be removed. Are we finally looking at the move that the platform seemed like it was going to have to make sooner or later?
The new limit on DMs will be 10,000 characters, which means that Twitter’s potential uses will now be considerably broadened. It remains to be seen how third-party software will employ the API to take advantage of the new feature. That said, normal messages will still adhere to the traditional limit. Although the official date of the change has not been confirmed, it should take place sometime in July.
Dick Costolo to step down as CEO, will remain on Board, and Jack Dorsey appointed Interim CEO, effective July 1
— TwitterIR (@TwitterIR) June 11, 2015
With regard to Costolo’s departure after nearly six years and the impeding return of Dorsey, it seems like a temporary measure while a permanent substitute is found. This move is occurring at a time when the company’s business model has been under continual fire in terms of its slow growth and lackluster revenues since its IPO in 2013.
