Key facts
- Twitter, now X, was founded by Jack Dorsey and launched publicly on July 15, 2006.
- The platform popularized the use of hashtags for topic aggregation.
- Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion.
- The site was officially rebranded to X in 2023.
- X is described as an 'app for everything' and a testing ground for business models, political debates, and AI projects.
Twitter, now rebranded as X, is celebrating two decades since its inception, marking a significant evolution from a microblogging service to a global platform influencing news, politics, and social movements. The platform's journey began with Jack Dorsey's concept, leading to the first public message on July 15, 2006. Initially named Twttr, it adopted the Twitter brand shortly after, with a character limit of 140, later expanded to 280.
The platform's growth was significantly boosted by its introduction at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive festival in 2007, where live tweets were displayed on screens, turning it into a real-time commentary forum. A key innovation was the introduction of hashtag support in August 2007, a concept that originated in IRC networks but was popularized by Twitter and subsequently adopted by nearly all major social networking sites.
Twitter's defining characteristics, such as the term 'tweet' and the use of hashtags, were largely driven by its active user community. The platform underwent a significant redesign in December 2011, featuring embedded videos and photos directly in the feed. Twitter made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2013, with its stock opening at $45.10 per share.
In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, becoming CEO in October of that year. In 2023, the platform was officially renamed and rebranded to X, signaling a shift towards becoming an 'app for everything' and a testing ground for new business models, political debates, and artificial intelligence projects, including the AI chatbot Grok. Despite its influence, X has also faced criticism regarding its role in polarization, disinformation, and the protection of vulnerable users.