Twitter unlocks DM lengths to woo users and businesses

Twitter has loosened its famous character-limit restrictions -- at least for direct messages.

They were limited to 140 characters, just like Tweets still are, but now private user-to-user messages can be as many as 10,000 characters, which -- in case you're wondering -- is about half of Twitter's privacy policy.

SEE ALSO: McDonald's begins rollout of mobile app

CNET suggests this is an apparent move to help Twitter stay as useful as its competition. Facebook Messenger, for example, has a 20,000 character limit.

Twitter is also placing uncharacteristic focus on supporting third-party clients during the transition. Twitter's DM product manager told The Guardian it's to improve the experience for those who lean on Twitter for marketing.

See a brief history of Twitter in the gallery below:

He said, "Let's say that I'm talking to a business and I write them a direct message that is 160 characters long and that business doesn't read the last 20, for me as a consumer that's a really bad experience."

Right now, Twitter could use good experiences -- or really anything that might get people to use its services. Executives warned during the company's second-quarter earnings call user growth has more or less stopped.

%shareLinks-quote="We do not expect to see sustained meaningful growth ... until we start to reach the mass market. We expect that will take a considerable period of time." type="quote" author="Anthony Noto" authordesc="Twitter CFO" isquoteoftheday="false"%

Twitter says newer, longer direct messages are rolling out now toTwitter's mobile apps, Tweetdeck and Web and Mac client.

More on AOL.com:
12 back-to-school apps you need on your phone right now
This website shows you all the craziest things you can do with Android
Robotic bartenders are coming sooner than you think