Family contacts and students (13 years old or older) using TalkingPoints receive your messages on the TalkingPoints Family App or via text messaging (SMS) on their phones. The current limit for a TalkingPoints message is 600 characters.
To keep messages accessible, TalkingPoints recommends limiting message length to make messages easier for the recipients to understand and process. Below are some reasons why receiving a long message (500 characters or more) can be difficult for family or student contacts:
Information in an app message or text message cannot be formatted like a document to make reading easier
They may not have time to read a long message or experience the message as a “wall of text” that is intimidating
They may have varying literacy levels
Depending on their carrier, the long text may be broken up into multiple messages that 1) break off, or 2) are out of order.
Did you know? If the message has been translated, some translations add more characters after translation. Below is a screenshot of what a message written in English looks like for recipients communicating in Spanish.
Sometimes, sending additional information via a PDF or .docx file may be a good solution. For documents such as newsletters, flyers, and invitations, consider using the TalkingPoints document translation feature. Please note that document translation is an optional add-on package that your school or district may purchase.