Twitter announces some tweet content won't count towards character limits


In the coming months we'll make changes to simplify Tweets including what counts toward your 140 characters, so for instance, @names in replies and media attachments (like photos, GIFs, videos, and polls) will no longer "use up" valuable characters.

I think this is a good movie. URL shorteners keep getting longer and pose some security concerns. Now things like photos and links won't interfere with your message. At the same time, Twitter won't be messing with the best part of Twitter, which is its brevity.