To make that happen, the handles — a person's Twitter name preceded by the @ sign — are being removed from reply tweets. When you reply to people on Twitter, the handle will be displayed above the tweet in small text. You must click to see the names of any additional people included in the conversation. Usernames in original, non-reply tweets still count toward the character limit, CNN reported.
"In our tests of this new experience, we found that people engage more with conversations on Twitter," product manager Sasank Reddy said in a blog post announcing the change.
Now the company is rolling out this new twist to all of its 319 million active users, CNN reported. It will show up on Twitter.com as well as in the iOS and Android apps.
In September, Twitter announced that quoted tweets and attached media would not count toward the 140-character cap, CNN reported.
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