I agree completely. "Images sell shit." So, the question is, what if we want to do something other than sell (or buy) shit? Text is a marvelous medium for these other possible relations.

I think you are missing one of the most amazing aspects of Twitter, Paul... Its cross-platform functionality.

Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is still a network built from SMS service. That's the source of the 140 character limit, and it's also the reason that Twitter will always be more democratic and (literally) revolutionary. You don't need a smartphone or a Macbook to tweet. All you need is the ability to send a text message.

The new features (IMHO) will add to the fun and creativity of tweeting from a smartphone, laptop, or desktop. If you want to keep your constraints, tweet via SMS.

On the other hand, Twitter is terrible for its limitations. It has foisted the notion of shortened URLs on us, ending the ability of URLs to describe the resources they reference in favor of cryptic codes routed though what should be the Libyan namespace.

Or:

OTOH, Twitter terrible limitations. Foisted short URLs on us. End URLs describe resources. Cryptic codes from should be Libyan namespace.

fletc3her @3, most URL-shortening services also offer the ability to create custom shortened URLs. For example, you could make the words after the domain perfectly descriptive, like bit.ly/pdfreport (or whatever).

More ambitious folks can even create their own custom shortened domains (such as gizmo.do).

BTW, the links I posted above are just arbitrary examples. I don't know where they go.

OTHO, IMHO AND, incidentally, "lmfao", I've witnessed few natural-born editors in my time. Paul might be another one.

Language evolves. "Text-speak" (as Paul calls it, although it is rapidly becoming a dialect specific to the internet) uses acronyms to convey concepts rapidly. It's really no different than using contractions in our writing.

Take that, FWIW. :)

I HATE Twitter for its words and one liners. People don't talk in 144 characters. If it were raised to 500 characters I might actually use it. That's at least a small paragraph and I wouldn't feel like I need to mangle the English language more than I naturally do just to fit in the box.

In the mean time, Tumblr is more my style.

Is this a surprise? In the beginning was the Word, and then visuals eventually come into play. Pre-web I would spent lots of time reading usenet newsgroups, exchanging lengthy emails with friends, and watching others lose themselves in MUDs/MOOs. It was a text-heavy world that I was in love with. Nowadays we click on Belle Knox videos, go down the youtube rabbit hole, and post multiple images at once to twitter. My mind is mush now. I no longer know how to form a sentence or read a paragraph.

@5 I can create two URLs and even if I put some information in the key of the short URL it tells you nothing about where I'm pointing you. Are you going to HRC or to Westboro Baptist Church?

http://bit.ly/1na07Hc
http://bit.ly/1mV1UgW

Compare to these, ironically shorter URLs below, which clearly identify what type of site is going to be on the other end.

http://www.hrc.org
http://godhatesfags.com

The loss of descriptive URLs throughout the Internet, largely due to the popularity of shorteners on Twitter, is a big step backward for the Internet. Almost as if we are re-inventing a cryptic older technology where URLs had to be 8 ASCII characters.

Any move from Twitter being a microblogging platform that facilitates the public broadcast of plain-text strings of up to 140 characters would be an unfortunate change. It's strengths derive from this simplicity. @-replies, hash tags, retweets: all built on that simple framework.

@11, I don't think you understood my point.

To begin with, nobody would use a URL shortener to abbreviate a link as simple as hrc.org. That would be silly.

But one might, for example, use a shortener to abbreviate the URL of HRC's donation page, which is an https address with over a hundred non-descriptive characters (mouse over it to see). And in doing so, that person could create a custom URL which is absolutely descriptive. Say, for example: http://bit.ly/DonateHRC Isn't that useful?

Also, it isn't as if the longer URLs are scrubbed from the internet. The shortened URL merely resolves to the longer address.

Of course, there is greater potential for abuse with blind links, and link rot could be a problem if bit.ly (or whatever service) goes belly up, but URL shorteners are not "a big step backward for the internet." Nothing is lost.

Phil M @12, I really don't think Twitter has any intention to abandon its functionality as a text service.

What was the first thing they did last week when it became clear that Turkey was going to ban access? They tweeted instructions to their Turkish users on how to use Twitter via SMS, allowing them to circumvent the ban.

I follow you on Twitter (under a different handle), BTW. I enjoy reading your tweets, should really RT and interact with you more often.