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Long Reads
The rise of the Twitter #thread: what’s behind the increase in long-form content on social media?
By Lauren Geall
3 years ago
2 min read
From an explainer on the cost of living crisis to a deep dive into a young boy’s love for woodwork, Twitter is jam-packed with viral threads. But what makes it such a winning format? And what can its popularity tell us about how we use social media in 2022? Stylist investigates.
When I’m feeling sentimental, one of my favourite things to do is read through some of my first tweets. From Taylor Swift lyrics and back-and-forths with friends to a collection of #LateNightThoughts and obvious subtweets, I didn’t exactly hold back from revealing everything that came across my mind in 2013 – and as such, those old tweets provide a unique glimpse into the inner workings of teenage Lauren.
But despite how funny it is to reread those older tweets now, what sticks out to me isn’t always the content. Instead, I’m more interested in something I never would’ve thought of at the time: their length.
When I first joined Twitter back in 2013, it was known for its short-form content. Facebook was the place you went when you wanted to share news, communicate with family or upload photos. Twitter, on the other hand, was somewhere you shared random thoughts and opinions with strangers. Some of my personal favourites from the Lauren archives include ‘excited for Saturday!’ (a shocking absence of specifics here) and ‘life’ (still relatable).
The restrictions of the app reflected this, too. When Twitter was first founded in 2006, tweets were limited to 140 characters; it was only 11 years later, in 2017, that the limit was doubled, allowing users to upload tweets of up to 280 characters in length.
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