Photos and links 'won't be counted in Twitter character limit'

Photographs and links will soon no longer count towards the 140-character limit on Twitter, a media report suggests.

Bloomberg understands that the microblogging site is preparing to make the change in the next couple of weeks.

While there has been no official comment thus far, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey did say earlier this year it is looking at ways to enable people to post longer tweets.

Up to 23 characters can be used up by links, which means there is less space for users to pass comment when sharing content.

Twitter was launched a decade ago before smartphones moved firmly into the mainstream.

At this time, many users typed their tweets as text first, as the 140-character limit allowed them to fit everything they wanted to say in a single text message.

However, it is possible that this restriction could be partly why the number of new users joining the social media platform has decreased in recent years.