Who would have thought that a single application would make you use your brain to come with the cleverest ways to make your point within 140 characters? Not much room to play surely? Over the past decade, Twitter users (over 320 million) have found a way to get their point across without having to type up an entire essay. It is a free platform that has been effectively used by celebrities, politicians and brands all over the world. It has been a tool for marketing and propaganda, news and pure entertainment, as we watch celebrities we love bicker over the pettiest of issues. The power of Twitter is still, to this day, underestimated. There are many who take part in social media who have no clue how to use or know what Twitter actually is. The past 10 years for the social media service has had some major highlights and we take a look at them here.
March 21, 2006 Twitter co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, sends out the first ever tweet: “just setting up my twttr”
August 24, 2007 Chris Messina tweeted the first ever hashtag: “how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?”
June 20, 2008 NASA made a big discovery and shared it with the world through MarsPhoenix: “Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!! Yes, ICE, WATER ICE on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!”
January 16, 2009 Right after the miraculous landing of a US Airways plane on the Hudson River near New York City, images were being shared by Janis Krums who witnessed the entire event: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There’s a plane in he Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.
June 2009 After the controversial elections in Iran were being protested against, as the government blocked all media of the revolt, people took to Twitter. This is where the phrase “Twitter Revolution” was born.
January 22, 2010 Not just on earth but out in space. Astronaut Timothy (TJ) Creamer sent out the first live tweets from space: “Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station – the 1st live tweet from space! :) More soon, send your ?s”
Late January 2010, early 2011 Twitter users took front stage again when it came to demonstrating against government rule. It became a vital tool in the Arab Spring. Along with other platforms, Twitter was credited in the ousting of the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.
May 2, 2011 An IT consultant Sohaib Athar, living in Pakistan, had no idea he was live tweeting the vents of the US Navy Seals raid that killed Osama bin Laden: “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).”
November 7, 2012 It was the most retweeted tweet ever, when President Barack Obama had been re-elected as the president. He attached a photo of him embracing his wife with the caption, “Four more years.” It was retweeted over 780,000 times. The record lasted until Ellen DeGeneres, in 2014, took an Oscar selfie with some of the biggest celebrities on the planet. The latter crossed over 3.3 million retweets.
April 16, 2013 The Boston Globe were one of the first to report the horrific Boston Marathon bombings: “BREAKING: A witness reports hearing two loud booms near the Boston Marathon finish line.”
July 14, 2014 The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. The 2014 World Cup was also the most mentioned sporting event in the history of Twitter with 627 million tweets. Germany might have been the champions, but the event itself captured the attention and passion of new and old fans alike.
November 2015 To show solidarity of the terror attacks that killed at least 130 people, millions took to Twitter with the hashtag #PrayforParis.
March 1, 2016 It was the year of Leo. After 25 years, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscar. His win for Best Actor at the Academy Awards caused a huge spike of 440,000 tweets a minute. This crushed the record held previously by Ellen DeGeneres’ celebrity selfie tweet. DiCaprio went out to express his feeling on Twitter: “Beyond humbled by this recognition. #TheRevenant shows the beauty of nature. Help protect it lcv.org/act”
