How does the 280 counter work?
The counter adds up a weighted length: links count 23, emoji count 2, most letters and punctuation count 1, and characters from scripts such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean count 2.
That is the method X documents for developers, and it is why the number in the composer often differs from a simple character count. A 60-character link still costs 23. A heart emoji costs 2. Before counting, the text is normalized to Unicode NFC, so an accented letter typed as two code points still counts as one.
| What you type | Counts as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Letters, digits, punctuation | 1 each | Latin and common symbols weigh 1 |
| Any link (https://... or example.com) | 23 | X wraps links with t.co |
| An emoji, with or without skin tone | 2 | Every emoji sequence weighs 2 |
| Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters | 2 each | Default weight for most non-Latin scripts |
| Photos or videos you attach in X | 0 | Media does not use text space |
The bar under the text turns amber when you have 20 characters left and red when you go over.
What does the tone pill mean?
The pill is a quick word-list reading of your draft: Warm, Friendly, Neutral, Tense or Harsh.
It uses the same lists as the tone checker: words of thanks and praise push it toward Warm, words of disappointment toward Tense, and insults or put-downs straight to Harsh. It cannot hear sarcasm or know who you are talking to. Use it as a nudge to reread, especially on replies written in a hurry.
How do I use the composer?
Write, check the count and the tone, then open the post in X or copy it.
- Type or paste your draft. If you came from the idea generator, it is already filled in.
- Watch the counter and the stats line for links and emoji.
- If the pill says Tense or Harsh, open the detailed tone check to see which words triggered it.
- Press Open in X to load the text into X's compose window, or Copy text to paste it anywhere.
Why write kind posts at all?
Because a specific, warm sentence is one of the few things on a busy timeline that people remember.
A thank-you that names what someone did, a congratulations that notices the work behind the news, a reply that disagrees without a jab: these take an extra minute and tend to start better conversations. The guide to kind replies has examples.