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Twitter's homepage as of May 2015
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: TWTR |
| Founded | March 21, 2006[1] |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California,United States[2] |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams |
| Chairman | Jack Dorsey |
| CEO | Dick Costolo |
| Industry | Internet |
| Revenue |  US$1.4 billion (2014)[3] |
| Employees | 3,900 (2015)[4] |
| Subsidiaries | Vine |
| Website | twitter |
| Written in | Java,[5][6] Ruby,[5] Scala,[5]JavaScript[5] |
| Alexa rank |  8 (April 2015)[7] |
| Type of site | Social network service |
| Registration | Required to post, follow, or be followed |
| Users | 302 million active (May 2015)[8] |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Launched | July 15, 2006[9] |
| Current status | Active |
Twitter (/ˈtwɪtər/) is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets".
Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users access Twitter through the website interface, SMS, or mobile device app.[10] Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco and has more than 25 offices around the world.[11]
Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stoneand Noah Glass and launched by July 2006. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with more than 100 million users who in 2012 posted 340 million tweets per day.[12] The service also handled 1.6 billion search queriesper day.[13][14][15] In 2013 Twitter was one of the ten most-visited websites, and has been described as "the SMS of the Internet."[16][17] As of May 2015, Twitter has more than 500 million users, out of which more than 302 million are active users.[8]
On June 10, 2015, Twitter announced its CEO Dick Costolo will resign on July 1, 2015.[18]
Contents
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History
Creation and initial reaction
Twitter's origins lie in a "daylong brainstorming session" held by board members of thepodcasting company Odeo. Jack Dorsey, then an undergraduate student at New York University, introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group.[19][20] The original project code name for the service was twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass,[21] inspired by Flickr and the five-character length of American SMS short codes. The decision was also partly due to the fact that domain twitter.com was already in use, and it was six months after the launch of twttr that the crew purchased the domain and changed the name of the service to Twitter.[22] The developers initially considered "10958" as a short code, but later changed it to "40404" for "ease of use and memorability."[23] Work on the project started on March 21, 2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message at 9:50 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST): "just setting up my twttr".[1] Dorsey has explained the origin of the "Twitter" title:
...we came across the word 'twitter', and it was just perfect. The definition was 'a short burst of inconsequential information,' and 'chirps from birds'. And that's exactly what the product was.[24]
The first Twitter prototype, developed by Dorsey and contractor Florian Weber, was used as an internal service for Odeo employees[25] and the full version was introduced publicly on July 15, 2006.[9]
In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Dorsey, and other members of Odeo, formed Obvious Corporation and acquired Odeo, together with its assets—including Odeo.com and Twitter.com—from the investors and shareholders.[26]Williams fired Glass, who was silent about his part in Twitter's startup until 2011.[27] Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007.[28] Williams provided insight into the ambiguity that defined this early period in a 2013 interview:
With Twitter, it wasn't clear what it was. They called it a social network, they called it microblogging, but it was hard to define, because it didn't replace anything. There was this path of discovery with something like that, where over time you figure out what it is. Twitter actually changed from what we thought it was in the beginning, which we described as status updates and a social utility. It is that, in part, but the insight we eventually came to was Twitter was really more of an information network than it is a social network.[29]
The tipping point for Twitter's popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000.[30] "The Twitter people cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages," remarked Newsweek's Steven Levy. "Hundreds of conference-goers kept tabs on each other via constant twitters. Panelists and speakers mentioned the service, and the bloggers in attendance touted it."[31]
Reaction at the conference was highly positive. Blogger Scott Beale said that Twitter "absolutely rul[ed]" SXSWi. Social software researcher danah boyd said Twitter "own[ed]" the conference.[32] Twitter staff received the festival's Web Award prize with the remark "we'd like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did!" [33]
The first unassisted off-Earth Twitter message was posted from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut T. J. Creamer on January 22, 2010.[34] By late November 2010, an average of a dozen updates per day were posted on the astronauts' communal account, @NASA_Astronauts. NASA has also hosted over 25 "tweetups", events that provide guests with VIP access to NASA facilities and speakers with the goal of leveraging participants' social networks to further the outreach goals of NASA.
In August 2010, the company appointed Adam Bain from News Corp.'s Fox Audience Network as president of revenue.[35]
Growth
The company experienced rapid growth. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007. This grew to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. In February 2010, Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day.[36] By March 2010, the company recorded over 70,000 registered applications.[37] As of June 2010, about 65 million tweets were posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter.[38] As of March 2011, that was about 140 million tweets posted daily.[39] As noted on Compete.com, Twitter moved up to the third-highest-ranking social networking site in January 2009 from its previous rank of twenty-second.[40]
Twitter's usage spikes during prominent events. For example, a record was set during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when fans wrote 2,940 tweets per second in the thirty-second period after Japan scored against Cameroon on June 14. The record was broken again when 3,085 tweets per second were posted after the Los Angeles Lakers' victory in the 2010 NBA Finals on June 17,[41] and then again at the close of Japan's victory over Denmark in the World Cup when users published 3,283 tweets per second.[42] The record was set again during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final between Japan and the United States, when 7,196 tweets per second were published.[43] When American singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, Twitter servers crashed after users were updating their status to include the words "Michael Jackson" at a rate of 100,000 tweets per hour.[44] The current record as of August 3, 2013 was set in Japan, with 143,199 tweets per second[45] (beating the previous record of 33,388, also set by Japan after a television screening of the movie "Castle In The Sky").[46]
Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010. Atebits had developed the Apple Design Award-winning Twitter client Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. The application, now called "Twitter" and distributed free of charge, is the official Twitter client for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.[47]
From September through October 2010, the company began rolling out "New Twitter", an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com. Changes included the ability to see pictures and videos without leaving Twitter itself by clicking on individual tweets which contain links to images and clips from a variety of supported websites including YouTube and Flickr, and a complete overhaul of the interface, which shifted links such as '@mentions' and 'Retweets' above the Twitter stream, while 'Messages' and 'Log Out' became accessible via a black bar at the very top of twitter.com. As of November 1, 2010, the company confirmed that the "New Twitter experience" had been rolled out to all users.
On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage and phased out the "Old Twitter." [48] However, a glitch came about after the page was launched, so the previous "retro" homepage was still in use until the issues were resolved; the new homepage was reintroduced on April 20.[49][50]
On December 8, 2011, Twitter overhauled its website once more to feature the "Fly" design, which the service says is easier for new users to follow and promotes advertising. In addition to the Home tab, the Connect and Discover tabs were introduced along with a redesigned profile and timeline of Tweets. The site's layout has been compared to that ofFacebook.[51][52]
On February 21, 2012, it was announced that Twitter and Yandex agreed to a partnership. Yandex, a Russian search engine, finds value within the partnership due to Twitter's real time news feeds. Twitter's director of business development explained that it is important to have Twitter content where Twitter users go.[53]
On March 21, 2012, Twitter celebrated its sixth birthday while also announcing that it has 140 million users and sees 340 million tweets per day. The number of users is up 40% from their September 2011 number, which was said to have been at 100 million at the time.[54]
In April 2012, Twitter announced that it was opening an office in Detroit, with the aim of working with automotive brands and advertising agencies.[55] Twitter also expanded its office in Dublin.[56]
On June 5, 2012, a modified logo was unveiled through the company blog, removing the text to showcase the slightly redesigned bird as the sole symbol of Twitter.[57]
On October 5, 2012, Twitter acquired a video clip company called Vine that launched in January 2013.[58][59] Twitter released Vine as a standalone app that allows users to create and share six-second looping video clips on January 24, 2013. Vine videos shared on Twitter are visible directly in users' Twitter feeds.[60] Due to an influx of inappropriate content, it is now rated 17+ in Apple's app store.[61]
On December 18, 2012, Twitter announced it had surpassed 200 million monthly active users. Twitter hit 100 million monthly active users in September 2011.[62]
On April 18, 2013, Twitter launched a music app called Twitter Music for the iPhone.[63]
On August 28, 2013, Twitter acquired Trendrr,[64] followed by the acquisition of MoPub on September 9, 2013.[65]
As of September 2013, the company's data showed that 200 million users send over 400 million tweets daily, with nearly 60% of tweets sent from mobile devices.[66]
On June 4, 2014, Twitter announced that it will acquire Namo Media, a technology firm specializing in "native advertising" for mobile devices.[67]
On June 19, 2014, Twitter announced that it has reached an undisclosed deal to buy SnappyTV, a service that helps edit and share video from television broadcasts.[68][69] The company was helping broadcasters and rights holders to share video content both organically across social and via Twitter's Amplify program.[70]
In July 2014, Twitter announced that it intends to buy a young company called CardSpring for an undisclosed sum. CardSpring enables retailers to offer online shoppers coupons that they can automatically sync to their credit cards in order to receive discounts when they shop in physical stores.[71]
On July 31, 2014, Twitter announced that it has acquired a small password-security startup called Mitro.[72]
On October 29, 2014, Twitter announced a new partnership with IBM. The partnership is intended to help businesses use Twitter data to understand their customers, businesses and other trends.[73]
On March 13, 2015, Twitter announced its acquisition of Periscope, an app which allows live streaming of video.[74]
In April 2015/ref> However, a glitch came about after the page was launched, so the previous "retro" homepage was still in use until the issues were resolved; the new homepage was reintroduced on April 20., Twitter announced that it has acquired TellApart, a commerce ads tech firm, with $532 million stock. [75][76]
Initial public offering (IPO)
On September 12, 2013, Twitter announced that it had filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a planned stock market listing.[77] It revealed its prospectus in an 800-page filing.[78] Twitter planned to raise US$1 billion as the basis for its stock market debut.[79] The IPO filing states that "200,000,000+ monthly active users" access Twitter and "500,000,000+ tweets per day" are posted.[29][80]
In an October 15, 2013 amendment to their SEC S-1 filing,[81] Twitter declared that they would list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), quashing speculation that their stock would trade on the NASDAQ exchange. This decision was widely viewed to be a reaction to the botched initial public offering of Facebook.[82] On November 6, 2013, 70 million shares[83] were priced at US$26 and issued by lead underwriterGoldman Sachs.[84]
On November 7, 2013, the first day of trading on the NYSE, Twitter shares opened at $26.00 and closed at US$44.90, giving the company a valuation of around US$31 billion.[85] This was $18.90 above the initial offering price and Twitter ended with a market capitalization of $24.46 billion.[86] The paperwork from show of November 7s that among the founders, Williams received a sum of US$2.56 billion and Dorsey received US$1.05 billion, while Costolo's payment was US$345 million.[87]
As of 13 December 2013, Twitter had "a market capitalization of $32.76 billion".[86]
On February 5, 2014, Twitter published its first results as a public company, showing a net loss of $511 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.[88]
Leadership
As chief executive officer, Dorsey saw the startup through two rounds of capital funding by the venture capitalists who backed the company.[89]
On October 16, 2008,[90] Williams took over the role of CEO, and Dorsey became chairman of the board.[91]
On October 4, 2010, Williams announced that he was stepping down as CEO. Dick Costolo, formerly Twitter's chief operating officer, became CEO. On October 4, 2010, Williams made an announcement saying that he will stay with the company and "be completely focused on product strategy."[92][93]
According to The New York Times, "Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Costolo forged a close relationship" when Williams was away.[94]According to PC Magazine, Williams was "no longer involved in the day-to-day goings on at the company". He was focused on developing a new startup, and became a member of Twitter's board of directors, and promised to "help in any way I can". In 2011, Stone was still with Twitter but was working with AOL as an "advisor on volunteer efforts and philanthropy".[95] In January 2014 Stone announced the release of Jelly, a 'social Q&A network for mobile'.[96]
Dorsey rejoined Twitter in March 2011, as executive chairman focusing on product development. At that time he split his schedule with Square (where he is CEO), whose offices are within walking distance of Twitter's in San Francisco.[94]
In September 2011, board members and investors Fred Wilson and Bijan Sabet resigned from Twitter's Board of Directors.[97]
In October 2012, Twitter announced it had hired former Google executive Matt Derella to become their new director of business agency development.[98]
Twitter named former Goldman Sachs executive Anthony Noto as the company's CFO in July 2014, with an "annual salary of $250,000 and one-time restricted stock options of 1.5 million shares ... valued at $61.5 million".[99] In June 2015, he was said to be considered a potential replacement for outgoing CEO Costolo.[100]
Logo
Twitter has become internationally identifiable by its signature bird logo. The original logo was in use from its launch in March 2006 until September 2010. A slightly modified version succeeded the first style when the website underwent its first redesign.
On February 27, 2012, a tweet from an employee that works on the company's platform and API discussed the evolution of the "Larry the Bird" logo with Twitter's creative director and it was revealed that it was named after Larry Bird of the NBA'sBoston Celtics fame. This detail had previously been confirmed when the Boston Celtics' director of interactive media asked Twitter co-founder Biz Stone about it in August 2011.[101]
On June 5, 2012, Twitter unveiled its third logo redesign, replacing Larry the Bird with an updated icon simply named as the "Twitter Bird." As of this logo revision, the word "Twitter" and the lowercase letter "t" are no longer used, with the bird becoming the sole symbol for the company's branding.[102] According to Douglas Bowman, designer of Twitter, the new logo resembles a Mountain Bluebird.[103]Twitter explains on their website not to modify the logo (e.g. rotate the bird, change the logo's color, etc.).[104]
Features
Tweets
Tweets are publicly visible by default, but senders can restrict message delivery to just their followers. Users can tweet via the Twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smartphones), or by Short Message Service (SMS) available in certain countries.[105] Retweeting is when a tweet is forwarded via Twitter by users. Both tweets and retweets can be tracked to see which ones are most popular. While the service is free, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees.[106]
Users may subscribe to other users' tweets – this is known as "following" and subscribers are known as "followers"[107] or "tweeps", a portmanteau of Twitter and peeps.[108] Users can check the people who are unsubscribing them on Twitter ("unfollowing") via various services.[109][110]<
