In this picture illustration, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s archived Twitter account is proven on a telephone display with the Twitter emblem within the background.
Sheldon Cooper | Lightrocket | Getty Images
A decade in the past, Twitter’s future was wanting shiny. The firm was benefiting from a flood of funding into the social-networking house, ultimately resulting in an IPO in 2013 that raised $1.8 billion.
Now the corporate is again in personal fingers. And they occur to be the fingers of Elon Musk, the richest individual on this planet and one of many app’s most high-profile provocateurs.
It’s an enormous second. Twitter has turn into a key place for individuals to debate, joke and preach in their very own circles of politics, sports activities, tech and finance. It’s additionally served as a platform that offers voice to the unvoiced, serving to protesters manage and categorical themselves in repressed regimes around the globe.
In latest years, nevertheless, Twitter and social media rivals like Facebook have been on the heart of controversy over the distribution of faux information and misinformation, typically resulting in bullying and violence.
Investors had grown involved about Twitter as a enterprise. The firm was usually unprofitable, struggled to maintain tempo with Google and Facebook, and sometimes killed in style merchandise with no actual clarification.
What follows is a quick historical past of Twitter, which — regardless of its many flaws — is without doubt one of the most iconic corporations to return out of Silicon Valley prior to now 20 years.
2006
In March, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams created Twitter, which was initially a facet venture stemming from the podcasting software Odeo. That month, Dorsey would ship the primary Tweet that learn, “just setting up my twttr.”
2007
In July, Twitter acquired a $100,000 Series A funding spherical led by Union Square Ventures. The app’s reputation began to blow up after being closely promoted by the tech neighborhood through the annual South by Southwest convention.
2008
Dorsey stepped down as CEO in October, and was changed by Williams. According to the guide “Hatching Twitter” by journalist Nick Bilton, Twitter’s board fired Dorsey over considerations concerning the govt’s administration fashion and public boastings.
2009
Twitter’s reputation continued to soar, resulting in a high-profile look from Williams on Oprah Winfrey’s speak present alongside celeb Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher would additionally write about Williams and Stone as a part of Time Magazine’s Time 100 situation. Twitter was now a mainstream phenomenon.
2010
Twitter reached house, with NASA Astronaut Timothy Creamer sending the primary tweet stay from outer orbit. Behind the scenes, nevertheless, administration woes continued with Williams stepping down as CEO, changed by working chief Dick Costolo.
2011
Twitter turned a vital social media software used through the Arab Spring, the wave of antigovernmental protests all through Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. Protesters used the location to publish studies and to prepare. As the Pew Research Center famous, Twitter’s position in “disseminating breaking news” was not “not limited to the Arab uprisings – the death of Whitney Houston, for example, was announced on Twitter 55 minutes prior to the AP confirming the story.”
2012
Twitter’s attain expanded to 200 million lively customers. Barack Obama used the “platform to first declare victory publicly in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, with a Tweet that was viewed approximately 25 million times on our platform and widely distributed offline in print and broadcast media,” in accordance with company filings.
2013
Twitter went public in November. The mixed wealth of Williams, Dorsey, and Costolo hit roughly $4 billion.
“I think we’ve got a tremendous set of thoughts and strategies to increase the slope of the growth curve,” Costolo informed CNBC on the time. “I would consider some of them tactics, some of them broader strategies, in service of doing what I referred to as bridge the gap between the massive awareness of Twitter and deep engagement of the platform.”
2014
Slowing person development led to a number of inventory drops and analyst downgrades. Twitter additionally deemed 2014 the yr of the “selfie.”
2015
Compared to rivals like Google, Facebook, and even LinkedIn, Twitter was beginning to seem like the runt of the Internet litter. Twitter was nonetheless unprofitable as its advert enterprise struggled mightily towards its bigger opponents. Dorsey would additionally return as CEO of the corporate, whereas nonetheless sustaining the highest job at his different firm, Square (now Block).
2016
Rumors started circulating that Twitter was trying to be acquired, with Salesforce as a possible suitor. Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook had been criticized for his or her position in letting distinguished customers like Donald Trump, who would win the U.S. presidential election that yr, unfold deceptive data with out consequence.
“Having the president-elect on our service using it as a direct line of communication allows everyone to see what is on his mind in the moment,” Dorsey stated on the time. “We’re definitely entering a new world where everything is on the surface and we can all see that in real time and we can have conversations about it.”
2017
For a second, Twitter seemed to be on the upswing. Its inventory was lastly trending upward as the corporate’s funds had been bettering. Meanwhile, Trump as president continued to make use of Twitter as his megaphone. According to Twitter’s personal knowledge, “Trump was the most-tweeted-about global leader in the world and in the United States” that yr, CNBC reported.
2018
Dorsey and Facebook’s then-operating chief Sheryl Sandberg testified earlier than the Senate Intelligence Committee about alleged interference by Russia-linked actors within the 2016 election. Trump and fellow Republicans turned more and more vocal about alleged political bias by Twitter and different social media websites.
“In fact, from a simple business perspective and to serve the public conversation, Twitter is incentivized to keep all voices on the platform,” Dorsey stated on the time.
2019
Analysts discovered correlations between President Trump’s voracious use of Twitter and varied markets, together with gold, underscoring the cultural energy of Twitter. Trump met with Dorsey — a Twitter spokesperson stated “Jack had a constructive meeting with the President of the United States today at the president’s invitation.”
“They discussed Twitter’s commitment to protecting the health of the public conversation ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections and efforts underway to respond to the opioid crisis,” the spokesperson stated.
2020
As Covid-19 unfold throughout the globe, the unfold of misinformation dominated the web dialog. And Twitter continued to battle to develop its enterprise. The service was additionally hacked that yr, and miscreants gained entry to over a dozen high-profile accounts, together with these managed by Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, and Musk
2021
Twitter completely banned Trump over inflammatory feedback the president made through the U.S. Capitol riots in January that the corporate stated may result in “further incitement of violence.” Trump would allege that Twitter staff “coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me.” Later, Dorsey all of the sudden stepped down as CEO and was changed by Parag Agrawal, the corporate’s chief know-how officer.
2022
Musk took over Twitter after a protracted authorized spat that will have culminated this week in a trial in Delaware’s Court of Chancery. The Tesla CEO agreed in April to pay $44 billion for Twitter, however then tried to renege on the deal. He modified course and opted to proceed, strolling into the corporate’s San Francisco workplace on Wednesday with what seemed to be a porcelain toilet sink in his fingers.
“Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” he tweeted, with a video of his entrance.
Musk instantly started making modifications, firing Agrawal, finance head Ned Segal, and head of authorized coverage Vijaya Gadde.
WATCH: Billionaire Elon Musk steps into Twitter HQ, sink in hand
Source: www.cnbc.com”