It seems to be the norm on the #fediverse to elide context that would be crucial if the uninitiated are to have a hope of understanding. I'm referring here to posts which make comment on current affairs without introducing the events to the reader, opting instead to target as audience those people who are already ‘in the know’.

While this irritates me somewhat, I suppose it's a natural response to the artificially short text limits.

But what purpose do these text limits serve?