Doubling the character limit to 280 was the moment the twitter platform jumped the shark. Eliminating the character limit entirely was the beginning of the end. Similarly, TikTok's biggest problem has always been that videos are too long. Limitation breeds creativity.
I think that increasing the word limit had to do with how Twitter has cornered its market.
People apparently crave longform content which is why you get like 60 tweet threads that are really just one article split into 60 chunks. Or people taking pictures of paragraphs and posting them. Twitter recognized that the change would make content more viewable.
The real issue is that people feel they have to get their longform content from Twitter despite the platform not being built for it.
Someone dm trump that if you say "RIZZ" 12 times into the mirror in a dark room at midnight the Rizzler will appear and grant you unlimited rizz in exchange for your soul.
12 times? In this economy? Look, bub, Candyman promised me a quick "hook under the balls, up, and ripped out" death. He promised it's his fastest, least painful option. And all he asks for it is 5 Candymans.
But not to outbid!... Beetlejuice will do it for 3. No mirror needed. He also tells me he can turn into some sort of giant sand snake... so, that seems useful.