Twitter More Than Doubles Display Name Character Count to 50

Merely days after all Twitter users received the 280-character tweet limit support, the micro-blogging service has more than doubled the display name character count to 50. Previously, Twitter supported 20 character display names, which was criticised by many.

These consecutive changes on tweet character limit and now display name indicates the company is looking to increase user engagement in new ways, reads a new report from The Next Web. The company announced the news in a tweet, and wrote, “Starting today, your Twitter display name can be up to 50 characters in length! Go ahead, add that middle name or even a few more emojis.”

In a blog post penned by the developers, Twitter claimed that while users stayed within the 140-character limit wherever possible and kept the brevity of the medium intact, certain issues required more comprehensive and structured tweets, thus enabling them to tweet easily and more often.

Intended to also allow users more freedom of expression, the change wasn’t exactly well-received by most users. Some, like Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, bemoaned how it actually lessened the medium’s expressiveness, which forced users to be more creative with their precious 140 characters.

For those confused with the difference between username and display name on Twitter, a username appears in profile URL and is unique to a user. It is usually also called as Twitter handle and is displayed as @XYZ. It’s also used for logging in, replies, and Direct Messages while display name is a personal identifier (like a real name) displayed in profile page and used to identify a user. On Twitter, display name and username are generally not the same.

For changing a display name, Twitter users can head to Profile settings on Twitter app (Android or iOS) or open Twitter.com and choose Edit Profile.

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