On the same day that You Tube announced that is now seeing over 1 billion monthly video viewers, Twitter is celebration its seventh birthday. It is the anniversary of when co-founder and current Twitter executive chairperson Jack Dorsey sent his first message from @Jack. To me, he missed a great opportunity to be pithy here. I would have used a play on Alexander Graham Bell’s “Mr. Watson, Come Here.” Perhaps, @Biz Stone #ComeHere, Biz Stone was Twitter’s software engineer and co-founder. Instead that first Tweet, one that will go down in history is simply…”just setting up my twttr.” This is just a bit of the banality that I associate with most of the 200 million people using Twitter poorly. The primary difference is that Jack Dorsey will undoubtedly be a billionaire when Twitter goes public, and billionaires can say whatever they want, as long as it is 14o characters or less.
“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,” wrote the company’s editorial director, Karen Wickre. Whatever your personal views on Twitter, there is little denying this statement. Just watch CNN when they go to Twitter each day. On the other hand, as I am presently streaming the opening game of March Madness on CBS’ website, there is a Twitter meter tracking the “pulse” under the streaming video and a live feed of people tweeting about the game. Twitter is everywhere.
The company’s growth and move to the mainstream is impressive. This time last year Twitter was seeing 340 million tweets per day, today they are a touch over 400 million. A growth percentage I’m sure Twitter execs would be happy to see each year if it were offered.
TTweets from Space, tweets from the heart of the Arab Spring, Tweets from the Pope are almost passé today. Twitter has evolved to the point that conversations between two famous people have come to be expected and almost mainstream.
I’ve still never sent a Tweet but find Twitter invaluable as a news aggregate and up-to-the minute source of information. Perhaps when I finish here, I will log in start with #HappyBirthday Twitter.
