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Weibo to remove 140-character limit

Xinhua, January 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo will remove its 140-character limit starting Jan. 28 on its developer platform, its CEO confirmed on Wednesday.

The change came after media reported that U.S. microblogging platform Twitter is considering removing its own 140-character limit, considered an iconic feature of the social media tool.

On Wednesday, a snapshot of a letter from Weibo Open Platform to its developers was widely circulated on Weibo, where it said the new format is expected to be tested among "senior users" from Jan. 28 and open to all users by Feb. 28. Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei reposted the snapshot on his personal account under the user name "Laiquzhijian."

In his retweet, Wang stressed that during the pilot run, only 140 characters will be displayed in followers' feeds and a link will appear to show the entire content if a post exceeds the character limit.

China's Sina Weibo boasts over 200 million active users, according to its financial report in 2015. The open platform is for third parties and outside developers.

Twitter's rumored plan to remove its character limit has been fiercely debated on social media, but the company has yet to confirm it. Endi