China-based social network Sina Weibo is to begin removing its 140-character limit from January 28, said Sina CEO Wang Gaofei.
The new format will seemingly still only show 140 characters in a user’s feed, according to the Shanghai Daily, though a link will appear that can be clicked to reveal additional content. The new messaging system will be tested from January 28 among some users, with an expected wider rollout a month afterwards.
Launched in 2009 by Sina Corporation, Sina Weibo is a social network similar to that of Twitter and Facebook, and is one of the most popular online services in China with around 200 million active users. Sina’s move to remove its 140-character restriction echoes that of a current dilemma faced by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who is in the midst of building a new tool that is believed would expand tweets to 10,000 characters.
While this has led to a much-heated debate about whether it would ultimately kill Twitter as we know it, Dorsey has pointed to the increasing amount of people who post screenshots of large swathes of text as proof that the public want it. Certainly, given Twitter’s current turmoil, with shares falling to an all-time low this week, anything is worth a try as the company looks to boost its monthly active users (MAUs) and grow globally. However, in doing so, it may also lose some of its long-standing loyal users who love the brevity that’s enforced by the 140-character restriction.
Whether Sina Weibo’s move to open up its messages to more characters proves a good idea remains to be seen, however, it’s clear that both Twitter and Sina are eyeing the limitless writing canvas afforded by the mighty Facebook as a way to grow their respective services.