Twitter has introduced longer tweets for subscribers to its Blue service.
However, the social media platform was hit by glitches around the world at a similar time that the longer tweets were launched.
Tweets were previously limited to 280 characters. The higher threshold will initially be available only in the US.
Twitter Blue tweeted: “Need more than 280 characters to express yourself? We know that lots of you do … and while we love a good thread, sometimes you just want to Tweet everything all at once. We get that. So, we're introducing longer Tweets!
“Most standard functions of tweeting still apply, whether you want to post a picture, use a hashtag, or create a poll. But now you can type all the way up to 4,000 characters. For now, longer tweets on web can't be saved as drafts or scheduled to send later. But don’t worry, Twitter is still Twitter.”
The new longer tweets will be capped at 280 characters on a user's timeline to avoid significant scrolling, with a “show more” prompt to click and read the whole tweet.
Twitter said that while only Blue subscribers can post longer tweets, anyone can read them.
“You can reply to, retweet, and quote tweet a longer tweet, no matter if you’re a Twitter Blue subscriber or not,” it said. “Subscribers will be able to reply and QT with up to 4,000 characters.”
The Twitter Blue subscription adds a blue check mark to an account and offers other early access to features such as edit tweet, longer video, NFT profile pictures and custom app icons.
The initial launch of Twitter Blue led to turmoil as a wave of fake accounts with the new blue ticks parodied US presidents, well-known dead people and large companies.
The blue check mark was previously reserved for the verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists and other public figures.
Newly created Twitter accounts are not able to subscribe to Twitter Blue for 90 days.
The subscription service was launched by new owner Elon Musk following his $44 billion acquisition in October to raise new revenue.
He said the company was losing $4 million a day. However, earlier this week, he tweeted that the company was now in a stronger financial position.
“Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties,” he said.
“Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to break even if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!
“To be extra clear, Twitter is definitely not financially healthy yet, but is trending to be so. Lots of work still needed to get there.”
Twitter Blue has now been expanded to 12 regions, including Saudi Arabia.
Twitter also recently outlined plans to start charging for its API access, although on Thursday it confirmed that it would extend free access through February 13.
It said a “new form of free access will be introduced as this is extremely important to our ecosystem, limited to Tweet creation of up to 1,500 tweets per month for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter”.
Meanwhile, the company admitted on Wednesday that its platform “may not be working as expected for some of you”.
“Sorry for the trouble. We're aware and working to get this fixed.”
A daily limit of 2,400 tweets a day was put in place at Twitter to reduce strain on its operations, according to US media.
People also reported that TweetDeck, the popular dashboard for managing and viewing Twitter accounts, had stopped working.
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
Federer's 19 grand slam titles
Australian Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Marat Safin; 2006 bt Marcos Baghdatis; 2007 bt Fernando Gonzalez; 2010 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Rafael Nadal
French Open (1 title) - 2009 bt Robin Soderling
Wimbledon (8 titles) - 2003 bt Mark Philippoussis; 2004 bt Andy Roddick; 2005 bt Andy Roddick; 2006 bt Rafael Nadal; 2007 bt Rafael Nadal; 2009 bt Andy Roddick; 2012 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Marin Cilic
US Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Lleyton Hewitt; 2005 bt Andre Agassi; 2006 bt Andy Roddick; 2007 bt Novak Djokovic; 2008 bt Andy Murray
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Brief scoreline:
Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first
England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66
South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
