Twitter



Thefacebook logo
Twitter logo 2006
by Linda Gavin
Pre-launch version
--- Name: "Twttr"
--- Domain: twttr.com
--- Registered: March 8, 2006
--- Released:
------ March 21, 2006 (internal service for Odeo employees)
------ July 15, 2006 (public service)

Launch version
--- Name: "Twitter"
--- Domain: twitter.com
--- Released: September 2006

Category: Internet

Subcategory: Social networks

Developers / Founders: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass

Place of develop: San Francisco, California, USA

Programming languages: Java, Ruby, Scala, JavaScript

Features: Twitter was born as an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short messages called "tweets". Initially, each tweet was 160 characters in length, maximum; when Twitter went public, the 140 character limit was adopted because 160 characters was the SMS carrier limit and the founders wanted to leave room for a username. Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users access Twitter through the website interface, SMS, or mobile device app.

Interesting facts: Twitter started in 2006 when the podcasting company Odeo realized they needed to reinvent themselves and began brainstorming new creative ideas. Jack Dorsey, then an undergraduate student at New York University, introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group. His project, which initially called "Stat.us", dated back to 2000. Later there were several different ideas for the name of the service, including "Twitch", "Friendstalker" and "Smssy", in the end the original project code name for the service was Twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by Flickr and the five-character length of American SMS short codes. The decision was also partly due to the fact that domain twitter.com was already in use, and it was six months after the launch of Twttr that the crew purchased the domain and changed the name of the service to Twitter. Work on the project started on March 21, 2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message: "just setting up my twttr". The first Twitter prototype, developed by Dorsey and contractor Florian Weber, was used as an internal service for Odeo employees, and the full version was introduced publicly on July 15, 2006. In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Dorsey, and other members of Odeo, formed Obvious Corporation and acquired Odeo, together with its assets - including Odeo.com and Twitter.com - from the investors and shareholders. Williams fired Glass, who was silent about his part in Twitter's startup until 2011. Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007.

Slogan (2006): «A global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?»

Property: Twitter Inc.

Website: https://twitter.com

Twitter sketch by Jack Dorsey
Twitter, a sketch by Jack Dorsey (2001). His project, called "Stat.us", dated back to 2000.

Twitter interface March 2006
Twitter in March 2006, used as an internal service for Odeo employees

Twitter home page July 2006
Twitter interface July 2006
Twitter in July 2006, launched as public service under the name "Twttr"

Twitter interface November 2006
Twitter in November 2006, with its official "blue bubbly" logo

The first "automated" tweet ever: «just setting up my twttr»
(from co-founder Jack Dorsey - https://twitter.com/jack/status/20 - March 21, 2006)

The first "human" tweet ever: «inviting coworkers»
(from co-founder Jack Dorsey - https://twitter.com/jack/status/29 - March 21, 2006)

Early Twitter logo
Twitter logo experiments 2006 (at right-bottom in its official launch). Most of the early logos were designed by co-founder Biz Stone, the first version he explored was a red jagged oval with off kilter letters cut out in white. Below the logo sat the tagline: "An Odeo Thingy". The "blue bubbly" logo was created by graphic designer Linda Gavin.

Twitter promo video (July 24, 2006). Co-founder Biz Stone explains what Twitter is in a hilarious short video on YouTube: "Twitter 101 or twttr 101".

Twitter founders
Twitter founders. From left: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Christopher "Biz" Stone, Noah Glass.

Twitter interface November 2006
Twitter in its advanced version (2015)