diff --git a/guestbook.php b/guestbook.php
index df8513a..f8ea795 100644
--- a/guestbook.php
+++ b/guestbook.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
             $ins = $db->prepare('INSERT INTO entries (name, msg, ts) VALUES (?, ?, ?)');
             $ins->execute([
                 gb_censor(mb_substr($name, 0, 40)),
-                gb_censor(mb_substr($msg, 0, 500)),
+                gb_censor(mb_substr($msg, 0, 250)),
                 $now,
             ]);
             $db->prepare('INSERT INTO ratelimit (ip_hash, last_ts) VALUES (?, ?)
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ require __DIR__ . '/inc/header.php';
 <form hx-post="/guestbook.php" hx-target="#entries" hx-swap="innerHTML"
       method="post" action="/guestbook.php">
   <input name="name" placeholder="name" maxlength="40" required>
-  <textarea name="msg" placeholder="say something…" maxlength="500" required></textarea>
+  <textarea name="msg" placeholder="say something…" maxlength="250" required></textarea>
   <input name="url" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off" aria-hidden="true"
          style="position:absolute;left:-9999px" placeholder="leave this empty">
   <button type="submit">sign</button>