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Jack Dorsey came to remind that his first tweet was posted 19-long-years-ago. But why was Twitter even created?
Jack Dorsey reminded the Twitter users about his first tweet on the platform that is now called ‘X’.
“just setting up my twttr.” Jack Dorsey altered the landscape of how we, as a society, communicate on the Internet today. The act of “coming” online was no more limited to Yahoo Messenger, MySpace, Orkut, or Facebook. There was a new bird in town and it flapped its bright, blue wings. People took notice and the microblogging platform became the cool thing. Unlike today’s ‘X’, you had to be brief, there was no time or space for yapping. Threads did not exist. 140 characters were the set limit. Backspace hadn’t been used like this ever before. Dorsey’s first tweet on the platform was made. It was 19 years ago. But why was Twitter created in first place?
Origin
Twitter was birthed on March 21, 2006. Dorsey, along with Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, developed the app as an internal project for the podcasting company named Odeo. When Apple iTunes began supporting podcasts in one of its updates back in June of 2005, Odeo looked at an inevitable dead-end. This was when Dorsey, a software engineer at Odeo, suggested setting up a service where users could blast SMSes for others on the platform to read. Twttr was born and it soon became Twitter. Little did Chris Messina know that his idea of hashtags that was first proposed in 2007, would become a vital tool of communication on Twitter.
Twitter’s real-time engagement, Retweets, and use of Hashtags appealed to the masses. People from corners of the world united to talk about the random nothings to global events that impacted the humankind. It changed how governments, countries, global brands, or even celebrities communicated with the world. Twitter’s short and crisp way to communicate became its unique identity. Tweets’ marriage with the hashtags became culturally significant to our society. The helicopter that made its way to Abbottabad to eliminate al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden was first heard by a user on Twitter. Sohaib Athar, a tech freelancer and a graduate of Preston University, knew something was up when he heard a chopper hovering above the city at 1am. Naturally, he decided to tweet about it. This was in 2011. Just Twitter things, you know. World got to know about the operation to end Laden only later.
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Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).— Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011
Twitter recorded 200 million monthly active users as early as 2012 and reportedly clocked 340 million tweets a day. The estimated number of monthly active users on ‘X’ today stand at approximately 650 million.
Dorsey And Beyond
Twitter underwent several refinements under Dorsey. The limit of 140 characters was relaxed and updated to 280 characters. The users no longer had to worry about media or Twitter handles eating up their precious characters. But Dorsey, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, decided to to move on. His departure came as a shocker to many but he felt that it was the right thing to do.
“There’s a lot of talk about the importance of a company being “founder-led.” Ultimately I believe that’s severely limiting and a single point of failure. I’ve worked hard to ensure this company can break away from its founding and founders. There are 3 reasons I believe now is the right time,” Dorsey’s email to this employees announcing his resignation read.
He further informed his employees about the company’s new CEO. “The first is Parag becoming our CEO. The board ran a rigorous process considering all options and unanimously appointed Parag. He’s been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around. He’s curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware, and humble.”
While concluding, Dorsey wrote: “PS I’m tweeting this email. My one wish is for Twitter Inc to be the most transparent company in the world. Hi mom!”
You can read the entire email here.
Parag Agrawal – ‘Former CEO of Twitter’
Parag Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011. Agarwal, an IIT Bombay alumnus, started his Twitter journey as an engineer and soon established himself as a capable one for his work in revenue and consumer engineering. Twitter noted that Agrawal’s work in 2016-17 helped in re-acceleration of audience growth. A year later, the Indian-born techie climbed to the position of CTO. With Dorsey’s departure, Twitter board decided to go to their best next employee – Agrawal. The techie assumed the position of Twitter CEO in November of 2021. Only to be fired a year later.
Elon Musk – Let That Sink In
Tesla chief Elon Musk toyed around with the idea of buying his favourite social media platform. He could, he was (and is) the richest man on Earth. The billionaire finally bought the company for $44 billion in late 2022 after going back and forth on his deal for months.
Musk’s entry was bad news for thousands of Twitter employees and top executives including Agrawal. Agrawal was fired allegedly after the then-CEO refused to block a Twitter account. Musk wasn’t happy. In a 2025 post, Musk criticised Agrawal and revealed why he was fired. “Parag got nothing done. Parag was fired,” Musk, responding to a tweet, wrote. Musk did not replace Agrawal as CEO but appointed Linda Yaccarino for the position.
Also Read: What Is Grok And Why It Has Become India’s Favourite New Toy
It wasn’t just the employees that reached their end at their beloved company. Musk killed the iconic blue bird – one of the most recognisable logos in the world. Twitter was no longer Twitter either. X was its new name as the company went through swift cosmetic changes and several layers of rebranding.
On Musk’s ‘X’, you can write down as many as 25,000 characters in a single post if you have the premium subscription. X has also enabled monetisation of user accounts who are paid according to the engagement they receive on their individual posts. X has integrated the platform with AI chatbot Grok, created by Musk’s xAI company, that can answer your queries in real-time and even code games for you. X, however, has been embroiled in major controversies since Musk’s takeover. Just Grok them.
