Famous multinational brands and major social media platforms are so gargantuan that they seem like faceless entities that were magically conjured up out of the ether.
It seems strange that one person or a small group of people with a simple concept are usually at the heart of the initial startups of these monster corporations. Every big thing started as a small thing, and a great example of this would be Twitter… or having a baby!
But, who owns Twitter?
Where did it magically sprout up from?
And how is it possible that a single idea from a tech entrepreneur can grow into something so archaic that it changed social media and the world forever?
Contents
Who Founded Twitter?
Twitter was initially launched in 2006 by co-founding partners Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. This pioneering social media network was reported to have over 206 million active users in June 2023, with 73 million of those in the USA and 55 million in China alone.
There are actually over 1 billion registered accounts, but 70% of those are largely inactive and not included in the overall figures. It’s safe to say that Twitter is one of the true business success stories of the past decade.
What Is Twitter?
Twitter was intentionally designed to be a microblogging site that allows users to shoot out 140 character messages. But in recent times, the character number was doubled to 280. It allows users to create message snippets using a mixture of text, photos, or even video clips.
Its ‘timeline’ style layout revolutionized social media platforms, and even though it’s been copied and duplicated, nobody does it better.
Quick real-time thoughts…
Tens of millions of people are simultaneously using the platform to share their ideas and thoughts with the world in super-quick real-time fashion. Whether expressing your opinions or promoting your business and everything in between, you can seamlessly target a certain audience or group of people with a single message.
You can comment on other people’s posts, more commonly known as ‘Tweets,’ and get feedback from your posts. It’s a veritable hustling and bustling hive of activity that is almost unstoppable and unquenchable. Twitter helps us all to keep in constant contact with the latest trends and breaking news stories as and when they happen.
Why Is Twitter So popular?
One of the main reasons why Twitter is so popular is because you can remain anonymous if you want to. You can create numerous accounts without having to use your real name. And although that isn’t always a positive thing, it’s still one of the most unregulated of the major social media platforms.
It does mean that verbal abuse is more common on Twitter when compared to Facebook. But it remains quite free to express yourself and opinions, even if they are a bit eccentric or “out of the box.”
Who Are Twitter’s Owners?
Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone largely take the accolades for founding Twitter. But they initially had help from another partner named Noah Glass, who contributed many ideas and efforts in its infancy, for which he is widely acknowledged.
Jack Dorsey is largely seen as the face and figurehead of the platform. He was responsible, back in 2000, for initially deciding to design a messaging platform to connect with his friends. This is the basic idea that grew into Twitter.
In a major development for Twitter, Inc., Elon Musk completed a historic $44 billion acquisition of the social media company. Twitter, Inc. was subsequently renamed X Corp. The social media platform is now known as X. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Twitter and is expected to bring about new changes and developments in the platform’s future.
The first-ever tweet…
Dorsey’s idea was just a pipe dream because he didn’t have the technical know-how to create such a thing until he met Williams and Stones. They built the prototype of Dorsey’s idea together, which would later evolve into Twitter.
Dorsey made the first-ever Tweet on the site on 21 March 2006. At the time, a Tweet could only be up to 140 characters, but after a series of lucky happenings and good decisions, which we will get into later, it was starting to get recognized and by internet users looking for something different.
Fast forward to 2023, and Twitter now is the fourth most used social media platform in the world behind Facebook, Sina Weibo in China, and VK in Russia.
The History
Evan Williams originally worked for Google with other Twitter founding members Biz Stone and Noah Glass. All three of them left Google in 2004 to start up a new podcasting venture called Odeo. Jack Dorsey joined the company as an employee, and that’s when the magic started to happen.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the launch of Apple iTunes essentially squashed Odeo in its tracks. This forced Williams, along with his cohorts, to find new and unique ways to evolve, stay relevant, and keep afloat.
Originally called ‘Status’…
Dorsey has already begun formulating an idea that he called ‘Status.’ The concept was to implement liveblogging services to send messages, which was a natural progression on his original idea back in 2000.
His idea would supposedly sit on an inactive platform. The messages could be used to inform everyone on the platform of your ‘status’ or any ideas you would like to share with others.
How they got the name ‘Twitter’…
When Glass heard this idea, he said it was pretty good, which incentivized Dorsey to develop the first version using Ruby programming languages. When Williams found out, he was on board right away and quickly decided that the idea was a winner and that it should be used to replace Odeo.
All they needed now was a catchy name. Noah Glass did what all marketers looking for a cool name do… he dived headfirst into a dictionary. And from this, the term “Twttr” was chosen.
Twitter History Milestones Timeline
The following 15 years up until the present day has been a whirlwind of success, and sometimes included controversy for the platform. So, here is a timeline of Twitter milestones that detail the most important moments in the company’s history from cradle to conception to the present day that propelled it to greatness in under two decades.
- November 2004 – Stones, Williams, and Glass leave Google to start podcasting platform Odeo.
- February 2005 – Odeo is launched but failed to receive the attention it deserved.
- February 2006 – Jack Dorsey’s messaging platform idea first comes to the attention of Glass, Williams, and Stones.
- March 2006 – Noah Glass first coins the name “Twttr.”
- March 2006 – Twitter is developed by Dorsey, and the first Tweet is created.
- July 2006 – Twitter fires Noah Glass because of increasing workplace tension between him, Williams, and Dorsey.
- August 2006 – A Tweet about a Californian earthquake helps the team to realize Twitter’s future potential for reporting live current events with varying opinions.
- October 2006 – Dorsey, Williams, and Stone acquire assets from Odeo and take over the operation by pivoting towards Twitter.
- March 2007 – The company wins the ‘best startup’ award at South by Southwest, finally gaining some much-needed recognition.
- April 2007 – Twitter finally becomes its own company and is officially launched with Dorsey chosen as CEO by Williams.
- June 2007 – Twitter raises funding for the first time to the tune of $5 million, while getting a valuation of $20 million.
- August 2007 – We first see the ‘#’ make its debut on Twitter, which was reportedly started by a user named Chris Messina.
- October 2008 – Dorsey is removed as CEO because of server failures that went unfixed. Shareholders replace Dorsey with Williams as CEO.
- April 2009 – Ashton Kutcher becomes the first user to reach 1 million followers due to a Twitter feud between himself and CNN.
- April 2009 – Biz Stone and Evan Williams are included in “Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World” list, although Dorsey is not.
- September 2009 – Twitter announces that Dick Costolo will become the company’s COO to improve the overall profitability of the network.
- April 2010 – The use of promoted Tweets for advertising reasons is announced, which creates the first avenue of profitability in the company’s history.
- October 2010 – Evan Williams is removed as Twitter CEO and replaced by Dick Costolo with the aim of Dorsey taking over at a later date.
- July 2011 – American President Barack Obama, in conjunction with The White House, hosts a Twitter town hall with Dorsey as a moderator.
- June 2011 – In a Twitter announcement, Biz Stone will cease to work in the office in a day-to-day role.
- September 2011 – Twitter reaches the landmark of 100 million users.
- December 2011 – The platform finally gets a new design for its timeline and profile pages that looks similar to the Facebook timeline model.
- June 2012 – Twitter slightly redesigns its logo and removes text from it to become a slightly different bluebird motif.
- October 2012 – The company acquires the Vine network.
- December 2012 – Twitter reaches the milestone of 200 million active users for the month.
- November 2013 – Twitter launches an IPO investment opportunity that is valued at $31bn.
- January 2015 – Twitter makes a deal to buy out ZipDial.
- April 2015 – Shares in the company dramatically fall by 18%.
- May 2015 – Google decides to add Tweets as part of its search results.
- June 2015 – Jack Dorsey takes over as CEO as Dick Costolo steps down.
- November 2015 – A ‘like’ button and a heart symbol replace the star symbol and favorite button.
- October 2016 – Twitter makes 9% of its workforce redundant by axing 350 jobs.
- October 2016 – The Vine app is discontinued.
- January 2017 – The Twitter dashboard feature is removed, and the Explore tab replaces the Moments tab.
- November 2017 – USA President Donald Trump gets his account deactivated by a rogue Twitter employee, but it’s put back online after ten minutes or so.
- September 2018 – Dorsey goes before the US senate and testifies along with Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook.
- November 2018 – Twitter finally increases its text counts from 140 to 180 characters.
- June 2019 – The company releases details that link thousands of fake Twitter accounts that allegedly belong to foreign governments in Russia and Iran.
How to Setup a Twitter Account?
If you’ve never registered a Twitter account before, it only takes five minutes and is a hassle-free experience. So, here is how to set up a Twitter account in the quickest possible way.
1 Visit the Twitter Homepage.
2 Enter your details such as name, email address, or phone number.
3 Use the code that Twitter sends to your phone or email to verify who you are.
4 You’ll then need to create a password and finish off the registration process.
5 Once your account is created, you can optimize it to your specifications.
Get The Most Out Of Your Twitter Account!
Whether you’re creating your very first Twitter account or looking to improve your online presence, we’ve found a huge selection of guides to help you out.
Let’s start with Twitter For Beginners: Everything You Need To Know About Twitter: How To Use Twitter Without An Account, or the 500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat, and More!, and how about Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, GitHub, and More, or the Get 10,000+ Twitter Followers – Easily, Quickly, Ethically: Step-By-Step: You Can Do It! and so so much more!
Next, we have The #ArtOfTwitter: A Twitter Guide with 114 Powerful Tips for Artists, Authors, Musicians, Writers, and Other Creative Professionals, as well as the Social Media for School Leaders: A Comprehensive Guide to Getting the Most Out of Facebook, Twitter,and Other Essential Web Tools, or even the Twitter In 30 Minutes (3rd Edition) (In 30 Minutes Series): How to connect with interesting people, write great tweets, and find information that’s relevant to you, and finally the Social Media: Master Social Media Marketing – Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, & Instagram all available in 2023.
And lastly, we recommend checking out the Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal, and the Profitable Social Media Marketing: How To Grow Your Business Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn And More, or perhaps the Social Media: Marketing Strategies for Rapid Growth Using: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube, and of course the famous Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram For Seniors For Dummies.
Final Thoughts
Although Dorsey, Stone, and Williams own Twitter and helped to evolve it to become the social media platform we know and love today, it’s the users that make it so special. It’s been reported that 500 million Tweets are posted daily, which breaks down as 5,787 Tweets per second.
It just goes to show that a handful of entrepreneurs with a visionary concept can literally change the world as we know it. So, now you know have the answer to who owns Twitter? Why not dare to dream and create your own app! You never know what could happen…
Have fun and enjoy using this outstanding App!