Tech: Here's how to get 280-character tweets on Twitter right now

The social network just made its biggest change since it launched a decade ago — but not everyone has access to the new feature yet.

It has doubled the maximum length of tweets, up to 280 characters from 140 — but not everyone can use the new feature just yet.

For now, it's being tested with a small subsection of Twitter users, before a potential roll-out to the rest of the user base in the coming weeks.

But Twitter users have noticed that with a small tweak, it's easy for anyone to activate 280-character tweets right now.

One option comes via @Prof9. To activate it, you need to install a Chrome extension called TamperMonkey, which is available here. (We saw this option via The Verge.)

After that, go to this script @Prof9 wrote and click the "raw" button, and then "install" when prompted. Just like that — you've got 280-character tweets!

Alternately, if you're up to playing around in the code yourself, @rpy offers a more technical option:

The reason these work is basically that the code that dictates whether a user has access to the new 280-character limit is stored on the users' computers, rather than Twitter's servers — so it can be tweaked.

The change has predictably caused controversy however — with some users suggesting that the limit doesn't need to be altered, and Twitter should focus its resources elsewhere.

The social network just made its biggest change since it launched a decade ago — but not everyone has access to the new feature yet. Read Full Story