Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/happy-birthday-twitter-youre-so-grown-up Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Happy 7th Birthday, Twitter! Nation Mar 21, 2013 2:39 PM EDT Happy birthday, Twitter! The micro-blogging website turned seven Thursday — the anniversary of when co-founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet, ever (back when Twitter was called twttr and it looked like this). just setting up my twttr — Jack Dorsey (@jack) March 21, 2006 The company posted this video late Wednesday night, chronicling its development as a social-networking site — from its 140-character start in 2006 to the invention of hashtags and retweets in 2007 … To this Twitpic, documenting the U.S. Airways plane crash on the Hudson. Twitter became a focal point of coverage in June of 2009 in the wake of the disputed presidential election in Iran, as users organized demonstrations and shared on-the-ground knowledge. In 2011, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told the NewsHour’s Spencer Michels that the site was not only a medium for breaking news, but also one for relaying context. Today, the company reports it has well over 200 million active users creating over 400 million tweets each day. “As we’ve grown, Twitter has become a true global town square — a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people all in real time,” writes Twitter editorial director Karen Wickre. FOLLOW US NewsHour first tweeted in April 2008 amid a closely-watched Democratic primary season (back when we were called The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and our homepage looked like this). Planning a PA roadtrip to cover the Democratic primary… many more updates to come. — NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 18, 2008 More than 41,000 tweets later, we say happy birthday, Twitter! (can we get a RT, please?) Follow @NewsHour Follow @MeenaGanesan We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now
Happy birthday, Twitter! The micro-blogging website turned seven Thursday — the anniversary of when co-founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet, ever (back when Twitter was called twttr and it looked like this). just setting up my twttr — Jack Dorsey (@jack) March 21, 2006 The company posted this video late Wednesday night, chronicling its development as a social-networking site — from its 140-character start in 2006 to the invention of hashtags and retweets in 2007 … To this Twitpic, documenting the U.S. Airways plane crash on the Hudson. Twitter became a focal point of coverage in June of 2009 in the wake of the disputed presidential election in Iran, as users organized demonstrations and shared on-the-ground knowledge. In 2011, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told the NewsHour’s Spencer Michels that the site was not only a medium for breaking news, but also one for relaying context. Today, the company reports it has well over 200 million active users creating over 400 million tweets each day. “As we’ve grown, Twitter has become a true global town square — a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people all in real time,” writes Twitter editorial director Karen Wickre. FOLLOW US NewsHour first tweeted in April 2008 amid a closely-watched Democratic primary season (back when we were called The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and our homepage looked like this). Planning a PA roadtrip to cover the Democratic primary… many more updates to come. — NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 18, 2008 More than 41,000 tweets later, we say happy birthday, Twitter! (can we get a RT, please?) Follow @NewsHour Follow @MeenaGanesan We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now