Character Limits on Social Media Platforms

September, 2019

Social media asks you to break the rules. It also requires you to follow them.

Working in social media is a balance. What works for one client isn’t going to fly for another. Sometimes the comedy falls flat. Other times it’s winning the internet.

Facebook plays fast and dirty, changing the rules without notice. Twitter hems us in with snark and famous character limits. Instagram is becoming less wild west and LinkedIn remains the reliable sister.

Let’s just get down the very basics of character limit and content planning. You gotta know the limits, so here you go, laid at your feet without the typical blog fluff.

Facebook
~ Username character limit: 50

~ Post character limit: 63,206
But don’t do that. If you need to write that much, start a blog and share the link on Facebook.

Keep your organic posts to 80ish characters and your paid ads to as little as possible.

Twitter
~Twitter handle: 15

~Profile name: 20

~ Tweet character limit: 280

When we think of charcter limits, Twitter comes first to mind. Their change from 140 was a big deal. Twitter wanted us to feel less restricted, more flowy. And it worked.

Instagram
~ Username: 30

~ Bio: 150

~ Caption: 2,200

~ Hashtag limit: 30
People love their words on Instagram. On and on and on. Sometimes your brand needs to follow that verbosity. Sometimes it doesn’t. Vary it to keep your followers on their toes.

LinkedIn
~ Page name: 50

~ Posts: 700

~ Articles: Maybe around 120,000. There doesn’t seem to be an established limit. You’ll get an error message when you’ve gone too far.

There you have it. The quick and dirty.