Forget 280 characters, the new tweet length to beat is approximately 35,000 characters long.
Self-proclaimed Twitter bug finder @Timrasett posted a tweet in German that read: “People! @Timrasett and @HackneyYT can exceed the character limit! You do not believe us? Here’s about 35k characters proof.”
Following that statement came thousands of characters nonsensically thrown together, partially formatted as a URL — which likely plays a part in the duo’s hack, though it’s unclear how, as the social media platform auto-shortens links.
Both users’ accounts were briefly suspended and the tweet was deleted, but it lives on through the Internet Archive.
A Twitter spokesperson told Gizmodo that the company’s made changes to prevent the same trick from working again, and noted that users are not allowed to prob network vulnerabilities unless under the auspices of the Twitter Bug Bounty program.
One of the unofficial bug finders (whose Twitter bio indicates they’re 15), says they have no intention of stopping, however, tweeting: “We are still trying to find bugs on Twitter. The 35,000 characters were just the beginning!”
