Looking Back: All The Moments That Made Twitter

Looking Back: The Moments That Made Twitter

Yesterday, Twitter made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange and crushed all expectations.

To celebrate, we’re looking back at all the moments that made Twitter what it is today.

We’re kicking it off with a look at one of Twitter’s first homepages.

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The 2006 Homepage


March 21st, 2006 – First Tweet Ever

Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder and Chairman of Twitter, sends the first public tweet.


July 15th, 2006 – Twitter’s New Logo


July 15th, 2006 – Twitter’s Open to the Public


The 2007 Homepage


March 11th, 2007 – Twitter Wins SXSW Web Award

SXSW 2007 was a major jump-off point for Twitter. As soon as Twitter won the Web Award, tweets circulated through the audience, catching the media’s attention in a big way.


August 23rd, 2007 – The First Hashtag

In August, Chris Messina, an open-source advocate, uses the first ever hashtag. To this day, Chris Messina is credited with introducing the hashtag concept to Twitter.


The 2008 Homepage


January, 2008 – Twitter Hits 8 Employees

In 2008, Twitter had gained significant traction in the internet world. However, the platform was still run by only 8 people. In case you’re wondering, they now have around 1,300 employees.


June, 2008 – NASA Announces Water on Mars via Twitter

In June, NASA’s use of Twitter redefined how the news reached the masses. Twitter considers this to be one of the most defining tweets in their history.


October, 2008 – Evan Williams Becomes CEO

In October, Jack Dorsey (pictured right) stepped down and Co-Founder Evan Williams took his place. Prior to his job as CEO, Williams was Chairman, a role that Jack took over, making it a perfect swap.


The 2009 Homepage



Although Twitter was growing in the public eye, their internal growth was gradual. Between 2008 – 2009, they only added 14 employees.


January 15th, 2009 – Twitter Changes News

This famous photograph, from Twitter user Janis Krums, put Twitter on the map. This real-time documentation showcased the power of Twitter and changed news forever.


June 25th, 2009 – MJ Death Sets TPS Record

When the King of Pop died in June, celebrities and fans took to Twitter to express their grievances and set a tweets-per-second record at 493, crashing Twitter’s servers.


The 2010 Homepage



Between 2009 and 2010, Twitter added over 100 employees. Only 2 years prior, the employee count was 8.


April, 2010 – Promoted Tweets, Topics & Accounts

In April, Twitter introduced the first promoted tweets, followed quickly by promoted topics and accounts. Disney was one of the first brands to jump on this new advertising platform.


June 24th, 2010 – Japan Beats Denmark and Sets New TPS Record

A new tweets-per-second record was set when Japan beat Denmark in the World Cup tournament. At 3,283 TPS, the new record absolutely crushed the former TPS record (Michael Jackson’s death – 493 TPS).


September 14th, 2010 – Another New Logo


October, 2010 – Dick Costolo Becomes CEO

After Evan Williams stepped down from his role as CEO, Twitter’s COO Dick Costolo took over the company. Williams continued to be part of Twitter, with a primary focus on product strategy.


December 14th, 2010 – Stephen Colbert “Wins Twitter”

Stephen Colbert had the most retweeted tweet of 2010, so Co-Founder Biz Stone bestowed the first ever Golden Tweet award on “The Colbert Report.”


The 2011 Homepage



In 2010, Twitter saw incredible growth. On December 15th, Costolo blogged that the company had grown and they would start off the new year with 350 employees.


September, 2011 – 100 Million Active Users


December 9th, 2011 – “Castle in the Sky” Sets a New TPS Record

The Japanese TV screening of the film “Castle in the Sky” set a new TPS record at the end of 2011, a defining moment in Twitter’s international presence.


The 2012 Homepage


June, 2012 – Twitter Hits 800 Employees

When the summer of 2012 hit, Twitter had 800 employees and showed no signs of slowing down.


June 5th, 2012 – Another New Logo


November 6th, 2012 – The Most Popular Tweet of All Time

Upon winning the re-election, the Obama administration tweeted this photograph. This would soon become the most popular tweet of all time.


December 9th, 2012 – Euro Final Sets 2012 TPS Record

When Spain scored its fourth goal in the Euro 2012 final, users sent more than 15,000 TPS, setting the 2012 record.


December 12th, 2012 – A New Voice

Pope Benedict becomes the first pope to ever join Twitter. He now has 3,189,677 followers and 188 tweets.


The 2013 Homepage


January, 2013 – Over 200 Million Active Users

Since September 2011, Twitter has doubled their active users. To start of 2013, Twitter had over 200 million active users.


January 24th, 2013 – Twitter Introduces Vine

Although Twitter bought Vine in 2012, the app didn’t debut in tweets until January 2013. This new video integration put the pressure on Instagram, who debuted their video feature in June.


August 23rd, 2013 – “Castle in the Sky” Sets a New TPS Record… AGAIN!

Okay, I have to see this movie. In 2011, a “Castle in the Sky” screening set a TPS record of 25,088. However, in 2013, a screening of this movie set ANOTHER TPS record with 143,199 tweets per second. This drastic increase is indicative of Twitter’s insane growth.


November 7th, 2013 – Twitter Goes Public

On November 7th, Twitter became a publically traded company.

Twitter shares soared past their starting stock price of $26, peaking at $50 per share and closing at $44.90.

The company is currently valued at over $25 billion.


November 7th, 2013 – Twitter Goes Public

On Twitter’s opening day, mentions of the IPO peaked over 5,000, after the stock price reached nearly $50 / share.

Twitter’s evolution from 2006 until today is nothing short of remarkable.

Looking forward to 2014, we can expect to see Twitter continue to engage, advertise, and expand.

What do you think Twitter will do next?

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