Twitter

Twitter

Screenshot of the Twitter homepage

Type of business
Type of site	Social networking service
Available in	Multilingual
Traded as
Founded
Dissolved
Predecessor(s)
Successor(s)
Headquarters

Twitter is a social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and retweet tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users access Twitter through its website interface, through Short Message Service (SMS) or its mobile-device application software ("app").

History

Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July of that year. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity. In 2012, more than 100 million users posted 340 million tweets a day, and the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day.

Features

Tweets

Tweets are text-based posts of up to 280 characters displayed on the user's profile page. Users can also post images, videos, and links. Originally, tweets were limited to 140 characters, but this was doubled to 280 in November 2017.

Retweets

A retweet is a re-posting of a tweet. Twitter's retweet feature helps users quickly share a tweet with all of their followers.

Likes

Users can "like" tweets by clicking on the heart icon. This feature was introduced to replace the "favorite" button.

Hashtags

A hashtag is a type of metadata tag used on Twitter and other social networks. It allows users to apply dynamic, user-generated tagging which makes it possible for others to easily find messages with a specific theme or content.

Trending Topics

Trending topics are those topics being discussed more than others. They are determined by an algorithm and are tailored for each user based on who they follow and their location.

Business Model

Twitter's business model is based on advertising. It offers promoted tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends to advertisers. These are displayed in users' timelines or in search results.

Impact

Twitter has been used for a variety of purposes in many industries and scenarios. It has been a platform for breaking news, political movements, and social change. It has also been used for marketing and customer service by businesses.

Criticism

Twitter has faced criticism over issues such as harassment, misinformation, and the spread of fake news. The platform has implemented various measures to combat these issues, including the verification of accounts and the suspension of accounts that violate its terms of service.

Acquisition by Elon Musk

In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter, leading to significant changes in the company's structure and policies. This acquisition was marked by controversy and discussions about the future direction of the platform.

Also see

• Social media
• Microblogging
• Social networking service
• Elon Musk
• Hashtag