Twitter Turns 17: A Look Back at the Evolution of the Social Media Platform

ON THIS DAY IN 2006: Originally founded by Jack Dorsey, Twitter is now under the ownership of tech mogul Elon Musk. The micro-blogging platform has carved out its own identity over the years. Since its inception, Twitter has undergone significant transformations, including changes in leadership and adjustments to the character limit. As the platform turns a year older on July 15, here’s a look at its evolution over the years.

History

The concept for Twitter originated from the podcasting venture Odeo, co-founded by Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Noah Glass. When Apple announced the addition of podcasts to iTunes in 2005, Biz, Evan and Noah thought about an app to compete with Apple. Jack Dorsey, who was working as an engineer at Odeo, proposed the idea of a short message service (SMS). With approval, Dorsey embarked on developing the project, which was initially named Twttr.

After months of development, Jack Dorsey sent out the first message in March 2006. The iconic tweet simply stated, “just setting up my twttr.”

Later that year, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Noah Glass and Jack Dorsey launched the final version of the app, allowing users to join the platform. In 2007, Twitter, Inc. was established, with Jack taking the role of the company’s first CEO.

Evolution

1. In 2007, Chris Messina introduced the concept of hashtags. Initially, the idea was dismissed, but it quickly gained attention and became an integral part of not only Twitter but also other social media platforms.
2. In 2009, as Twitter gained popularity and attracted prominent personalities, concerns about fake accounts arose. To address these issues, the company launched the verification tick.
3. Since its early days, the company has undergone several changes and introduced new features to enhance the user experience.
4. They introduced promoted tweets and a retweet feature.
5. To compete with other social media platforms, Twitter introduced direct messages (DM), Spaces and Fleets, a feature similar to stories, but it was discontinued over lack of interest from users.
6. Under the leadership of its original founder, Jack Dorsey, Twitter was introduced with a Tweet length limit of 140 characters.
7. As the company evolved, the maximum length was increased to 280 characters.
8. However, since Elon Musk’s official takeover, the app now supports up to 25,000 characters for users who pay for subscription.