For me the main question is not 'do I need/will I use the extended character limit' but rather 'do I mind other people making use of the extended character limit'. I can't imagine wanting to limit other's freedom to post as they wish in this sense, so for me the 'right' position is clear (positive).
"I can't imagine wanting to limit other's freedom to post as they wish in this sense, so for me the 'right' position is clear (positive)."
This was my initial thinking as well, combined with the fact that I tend to be long-winded, but I don't think this is a simple matter of providing more choice.
Extending the character limit without making any other changes to the interface would concretely change the writing experience for people who do appreciate being compelled to write more succinctly and / or who like breaking things up into microblog "threads", and there would be costs (although perhaps not highly visible ones) associated with this change.
@dynamic right, I understand that direction of thinking I think; but I'm unconvinced it's enough to sway me. There'll still be a character count display, and people could presumably use clients that let them self-impose arbitrary limits (indeed, you could make the argument Mastodon should provide such setting -- alongside making the character limit itself a setting).
Also, note that Mastodon's UX should (IIUC) already provide a 'show more' link over a certain threshold when reading.
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