Twitter to scrap 140-character rule - for direct messages

Part of the charm of Twitter is the 140-character rule. It blows away attempts to be longwinded.

But the company has confirmed a change of policy.

The 140-rule will be scrapped later this year.....but only for direct messages.

Tweets for public consumption will remain brief.

Twitter is now commonly used by, for example, customer service departments to answer questions and complaints. And, very often, a complicated complaint is impossible to get into 140 characters.

The new move will be useful for that.

But let's hope it doesn't spread. Or Twitter's charm will be blown.