Musk confirms Twitter character limit to be increased to 4000: But do you need it

Currently, the character limit for tweets on Twitter is 280. So, in a single tweet, you can enter up to 280 characters which includes punctuations and spaces. This wasn’t always the case. There was a time when we used to have only 140 characters to express our thoughts on the platform. Then in 2017, it was bumped to 280 characters. And now, Elon Musk is planning to increase it significantly. He has confirmed the same to a user’s query on Twitter:

Yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022

He hasn’t given any justification or reasoning for such an update. So, let’s wear the thinking hat and try to understand if Twitter needs such an increase in character limit.

Here’s what we think:

Twitter character limit increase: Does it make sense?

An increase in character limit for tweets is something we have already seen as already mentioned above. The reason for such a change is simple as it gives more space for the Twitter user to express themselves. This increases the time they spent on the platform and the chances of a rise in their engagement is also there. So, in turn, it makes Twitter more user-friendly and attractive for both users and marketers. 

However long form content, especially text, won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Due to a declining attention span for most people, the posts may not garner as many readers as shorter 280-character tweets. Twitter accounts which undergo this may be badly hit by the algorithm too. Not only that, the longer content need not mean quality content as they may be less-focussed in their delivery and hence less legible for the other person.

So, there are both pros and cons to such an update. In any case, what matters is that the content should be digestible. Also, 4000 characters is the limit and you can always post shorter tweets. You could plan how often you post long-form tweets versus short ones. And only time will tell how this update performs, if at all it happens.

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Vodafone Idea releases new international roaming plans with truly unlimited data and voice calling

Earlier this year, Vodafone Idea launched a couple of international roaming packs for Indian customers. Now, as the Holiday season, the company has come up with more international packs for those planning to visit the top global destinations. The new VI international roaming plans offer truly unlimited voice calls and data with no speed limit or throttling. 

Vodafone Idea released new international roaming plans

It could be a great selling point and attract new customers for the company as no other international roaming service provider gives "unlimited data without speed throttling beyond defined data limits." However, this is not true for all the plans, which we'll discuss later. The international packs' validity ranges between 24 hours to 28 days. Here are the details about all the new Vodafone Idea IR plans. 

There are a total of five new IR plans

To begin with, customers who need data allowance for a short duration can choose the Rs. 599 IR plan. It offers unlimited data, local outgoing and calls to India, incoming calls and SMS. Then there's the Rs. 2,999 IR plan with a validity of 7 days. The benefits remain the same: free data, voice calls (both incoming and outgoing calls from India), and SMS. People going for a short vacation can opt for this plan. Vodafone Idea has also released a 10 days international roaming plan which costs Rs. 3,999 with similar benefits. 

There are two more options in terms of validity, but their benefits are different. For instance, the Rs. 4,499 IR plan offers unlimited data, voice calls (local outgoing and calls to India), and SMS. But it is valid for 14 days only. Hence, one might have to subscribe twice if they leave for more than two weeks. Lastly, there's a Rs. 5,999 plan that offers a validity of 28 days. But what's odd is that the company has put a data cap of 15GB on the plan. Additionally, the local outgoing calls and calls to India are restricted to 1500 as well. Nevertheless, incoming calls and SMS services are free.  

The top designations where Vodafone Idea offers these plans include countries like the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Brazil and Indonesia, among others. The telecom provider has partnered with the best companies to provide seamless connectivity in these regions.  

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Realme addresses bloatware criticism for the Realme 10 Pro Series

Realme’s latest series, the Realme 10 Pro series, has received quite a bit of criticism lately for being filled with bloatware. The smartphone comes with a host of third-party apps that are deemed unsuitable and also impair user experience due to endless notifications and alerts. Realme has finally issued a statement addressing the same. 

Realme’s statement on the bloatware issue in the Realme 1 Pro series

Addressing the issue, the brand released a statement saying “We at realme have taken cognizance of the issue with a few unsuitable app recommendations in the latest realme devices. We take this matter very seriously and are taking strict corrective steps to rectify this error, as we are committed to always delivering the best experience to our users across segments.”

We want to assure our users that in addition to tracking recent developments in the app recommendations folder, we are also constantly striving to moderate the user experience by screening such apps. Our team has identified a batch of applications through keyword searches and blacklisted them. So far we have blacklisted more than 95% of the ill-suited recommendations on our smartphones.” they further clarified.

The brand also assured users that it is working on a solution. “Furthermore, we are working on enhancing our keyword monitoring mechanism and optimizing the audit mechanism for unsuitable apps and keywords. The team is also working to come up with a permanent solution to moderate app recommendations on all our devices. There will also be an automatic warning mechanism for our backend team for any such apps for immediate redressal.”

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. 

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The return of the 18-Inch gaming laptop has been teased by Alienware

In a video shared by the Dell subsidiary Alienware, on their official Twitter account, it can be seen that the company is teasing the return of its iconic 18-inch gaming laptops. In the video, it can be seen that the new laptop is arriving in a very UFO-esque manner, adding to the mystery, and being very in line with how Alienware reveals its products. And to make things much more interesting, the video also showed the number ‘18’ stamped onto a field of grass, much like signs on a field after the arrival of aliens.

What is so special about 18 inches?

People who do not know about the old line-up of Alienware laptops, might not get this, but Alienware is essentially teasing the return of the Alienware 18, which was first revealed all the way back in 2013, and has not seen any new upgrades since 2015.

It had an 18-inch screen and weighed a whopping 12 pounds. But if people were willing to look past the massive weight, and carry it around, the laptop practically offered a high-level gameplay experience from virtually anywhere. The 2015 limited-edition version of the Alienware 18 boasted the most features and was an all-around beast of a gaming laptop. It had dual internal GPU support, liquid cooling, and a Graphics Amplifier support system.

But that was the last time Alienware released an 18-inch laptop, and ever since then went back to making smaller-screen laptops.

The Return of the 18-inch laptop

Alienware is keeping most of the details about its new release under wraps, for the time being, so we don’t really know what to expect from their tweet. There was no reveal date whatsoever, so we hope that we see something about this new product the next month during CES.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. 

 

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Google Pixel 7 will now have AI Enhanced Audio and Free VPN

Google’s Pixel 7 lineup was launched in October, and now, the brand is offering a significant upgrade in features via an update known as “Android 13 Quarterly Platform Release 1 (QPR1)”, You can now enjoy AI Enhanced Audio and a free VPN by downloading and installing the patch. 

Google Pixel Clear Calling feature

One of the biggest changes to come with the new update will be the Clear Calling feature, designed to enhance the overall quality of phone calls. This feature will leverage Google’s custom Tensor chip to use machine learning, which will enable it to filter out background noise. It will also pump up voices so that phone calls are clearer. 

Google Pixel to offer free VPN

Another significant feature update is the availability of the Google One VPN in the Google Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 for free. With this, you can route your traffic via an encrypted server, ensuring that your data is protected even when you’re using public Wi-Fi. 

Record app features

Finally, Google will also bring a feature update to the recorder app, wherein the app itself will be able to identify voices and then label the speakers in the transcription. This feature will be available on Google Pixel phones that have a tensor chip - Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 7, and 7 Pro.

To install the patch, you need to navigate to Settings > System > System Update to get started.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. 

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The Game Awards 2022: Death Stranding 2, Diablo 4, Hades II, Armored Core 6, More Announced

The Game Awards 2022 unveiled a slew of new trailers and announcements, live from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on December 8. Key highlights include Death Stranding 2, Hades 2, gameplay for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, a release date for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and a whole lot more.

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Proof emerges that Twitter was inherently an anti-free speech platform before Musk buyout

A recent investigation revealed that Twitter played an incredibly active role in monitoring user accounts based on the content they shared. Twitter employees would place such accounts on blacklists, alter their visibility, and more. 

"A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavoured tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics - all in secret, without informing users," Tweeted Bari Weiss, the Editor for the Free Press.

How did Twitter control what you think?

Twitter used a powerful tool known as the Visibility Filter (VF) to control the reach of certain tweets. "It used VF to block searches of individual users; to limit the scope of a particular tweet's discoverability; to block select users' posts from ever appearing on the trending page, and from inclusion in hashtag searches." elaborated Weiss, explaining how the tool worked.

What makes this particularly nefarious is the fact that there was a specific group, known as the Strategic Response Team - Global Escalation Team, who was responsible for ensuring that certain tweets never saw the light of day. The group included Twitter’s Global Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth, Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust, Vijaya Gadde, CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal, and others.

1. A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

"This is where the biggest, most politically sensitive decisions got made. Think high follower account, controversial, another Twitter employee told us. For these there would be no ticket or anything," she said.

These investigations highlight the importance of Free Speech on Twitter, and perhaps create a strong argument for why Elon Musk’s new policies will actually take the platform in the right direction.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. 

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