Twitter Turns Eight Today, Shows You Your First Tweet

Twttr becomes Twitter

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), “the SMS of the Internet,” has come a long way. From a brainstorming session between co-founders Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass to a global force in a short period of time is nothing short of a marvel. By market capitalization, revenue, growth and cultural impact, Twitter could easily argue that it is one of the most successful start-ups of the Internet age.

While today marks the eighth anniversary of the first tweet, the microblogging site wasn’t available to the public until July of 2006. In explaining its name, Dorsey says “…we came across the word ‘twitter’, and it was just perfect. The definition was ‘a short burst of inconsequential information,’ and ‘chirps from birds’. And that’s exactly what the product was.” The iconic bird that represents the company explained in less than 140 characters.

First tweet

In celebration of the company’s eighth birthday, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has launched First-Tweets.com, letting every user rediscover what was on their mind as they joined the social network. Users need only type their username or the username of any other Twitter user to discover what their first tweet was.

The results, not surprisingly, range from the banal to insane, from undecipherable to homey and all points between. Even Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) users who have shied from the service are getting in on the fun today and taking a trip down memory lane.

With over 250 million users, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is clearly not a flash in the pan. 500 million tweets are sent each day and the company can already claim over 300 billion total tweets since its inception. The only question is what will Twitter plan for its one trillionth tweet a few years down the road?

Here are some famous first tweets:

Twitter is great. I like it almost as much as I like Dell.

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) June 20, 2013

Check out my single "ONE TIME" on my myspace and spread the word for me. Thanks www.myspace.com/justinbieber

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 12, 2009

Thinking we're only one signature away from ending the war in Iraq. Learn more at http://www.barackobama.com

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 29, 2007