Change is a hard thing to cope with. And apparently more so on social media these days! Last week, Twitter doubled its tweet-cap to 280 characters. This has made some users uneasy. But the hitherto-cautious Twitter – which is on the cusp of turning healthy profits and whose stock has been up by roughly 20 percent in the year-to-date period – now looks keen to make major changes to its platform. It’s all about getting more users and boosting engagement on the network.

Expanding the tweet-cap goes against Twitter’s signature feature: its brevity. J. K. Rowling, the British novelist of the Harry Potter series fame, was quick to express her frustration. “Twitter’s destroyed its USP. The whole point, for me, was how inventive people could be within that concise framework,” she tweeted, in exactly 140 characters.

As per figures released by Twitter last week, some 9 percent of tweets in English hit the 140-character limit. Unable to express themselves in 140 characters, these folks would spend time editing their tweets or even abandon tweeting out of frustration. When Twitter tested the 280-character limit on some of its users in September, only 1 percent of tweets hit the limit and folks spent less time editing their tweets.

Question is: why would Twitter undertake such a platform-defining change to help less than 10 percent of its active users? This reminds one of Coca-Cola’s market research faux pas in 1985. After blind taste tests showed an approving majority for a new flavour, the company decided to replace original Coke with New Coke, which had a sweeter formula to counter Pepsi. After fierce backlash from many Coke drinkers, the company quickly brought back the original Coke (named Coke Classic) alongside the new flavour.

Just as with Coke, some (if not all) Twitter users are making their dissatisfaction known. But unlike Coke, the backlash is happening very publicly to Twitter, on Twitter. The company is hardly on the defensive, though, arguing that the much-desired brevity feature will remain intact as tweeting behaviour will normalize over time. During the testing phase, it said, “Only 5 percent of Tweets sent were longer than 140 characters and only 2 percent were over 190 characters.”

Twitter is aware that it now has ample critical mass (330 mn active monthly users, at last count) to see through a drastic shift. Folks are complaining, but those mutterings will likely morph into acceptance over time. But Twitter still needs to find a better way than getting all cluttered up like Facebook. User experience is more than self expressions; it’s also about how those expressions are received by others.

While users in Pakistan also seem to have mixed reaction on Twitter’s move, the corporates seem more welcoming. BR Research’s background discussions with a half-dozen industry professionals having corporate social-media experience suggest that more space will be helpful.

Previously, with 140 characters, the firms were constrained for space and ended up compromising on grammar while promoting their campaigns or explaining their position on critical issues. Multiple tweets were normally needed to make a single point. Now, 280 characters look good enough to express the firm’s position, put some relevant context, and suggest remedy on behalf of the firm.

Except for telco’s; just a handful of prominent Pakistani firms are currently present on Twitter. It is Facebook where most of Pakistan’s retail firms – from food/beverages and personal/home care to pharma’s and autos – are actively present. Since Facebook is a much more dynamic platform, it doesn’t look like local corporates would suddenly like to have a presence on Twitter as well. But for local politicians, who usually have a lot to say on any given topic, Twitter just got way better.