The social network Twitter is going to remove the 140-character limit on its direct message feature, which allows users to communicate privately with each other. The change raises the limit from 140 to 10,000 characters.

It seems Twitter is trying to keep pace, as the competition escalates from the likes of Facebook and other popular message apps.

According to Eugene Wei, the former senior vice president for product and marketing at Hulu, and former vice president for product at Flipboard:

“The power of Twitter, deep down, is that it’s a public messaging protocol. The 140 character limit is not its secret power. The network is”

The upgrade, which was originally announced in June, could help the struggling social network reach a wider, mainstream audience to appease Wall Street investors. Despite Twitter having about 316 million monthly active users, it pales compares to the 1.5 billion who use Facebook, which puts it at a major disadvantage as it attempts to attract advertisers and more money.

However, To Wei thinks that’s not good enough. Adding in a “read more” link to a Tweet is hardly a deal-breaking feature. And that’s just one fix. There are plenty of other changes Twitter could make to increase the effectiveness of its network for conversations.

The company is also looking for a new leader. Interim CEO Jack Dorsey, who replaced Dick Costolo last month, said he won’t leave his full-time role as chief of Square, the mobile-payments company he founded after Twitter that’s reportedly getting ready for an IPO. On Monday, Dorsey said he bought more than 31,000 shares of Twitter, worth about $875,000, sending a strong signal to investors he believes in the company’s future.