Today, Twitter turns 12 years old, which is testament to how quickly time flies when you’re telling the world what you’re eating for breakfast.
Twitter’s rise to hashtagging dominance began on March 21, 2006, though no one knew then exactly how pervasive the site would become. We now live in an age where it’s hard to find anything at all that isn’t prefixed with a # or @.
Here’s the first tweet ever sent on that fateful day, posted by none other than Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey:
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just setting up my twttr
— jack (@jack) March 21, 2006
Twitter – once dubbed “the SMS of the internet” – now boasts hundreds of millions of users worldwide. And here’s a fun fact: 109 million of those users follow singer Katy Perry, who currently ranks as the most popular Twitter user ever, narrowly pipping Justin Bieber.
But like most web giants sired in the Noughties, Twitter didn’t start out as the slick, refined service we know today. To celebrate its journey, we’ve taken a look back at how the Twitter homepage has evolved since the website began.
First stop: 2005.
February 2005
Before Twitter was Twitter, it was this. We’re not sure either…
September 2006
Ah, that’s more like it! This is Twitter, mere months after the website’s launch.
December 2006
Look at that! People are @-tagging each other. Seems like 2006 wasn’t so different after all.
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February 2007
As far back as 2007, people were using Twitter to complain about their lives.
November 2007
This is when Twitter’s homepage stopped showing a tweet feed, and started compelling unsubscribed onlookers to sign up for hashtagging goodness.
October 2008
Not much changed between 2007 and 2008, except for the addition of a video explaining what Twitter is all about. Simpler times, eh?
October 2009
Woah, Twitter is starting to look like a real website. And check out those trends: #SouljaBoyCameUp, Glee, and Google Wave. Those were the days.
August 2010
By this point, Twitter had 49 million users globally. That was up 19 million on the start of 2010, and 51 million less than it would have exactly one year later.
July 2011
If you thought 2009 looked cool, get a load of this future-fondling redesign.
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June 2012
For most of us, this will sort of design will be among our earliest memories of Twitter. By the end of 2012, Twitter had nearly 200 million users.
August 2013
A far cry from the eye-sore days of 2006, Twitter starts embracing visuals in a big way. This is also the same month that Twitter first floated on the stock market.
August 2014
Not much has changed here, except for the bio, which ramps up the focus on the fact that everything is happening right now. Immediately. Everywhere. All around you. But only on Twitter.
December 2015
By the end of 2015, Twitter boasted just north of 300 million monthly active users.
2018 – Twitter today
Twitter is no longer just an incomprehensible stream of verbiage. It’s now categorised, out of time order, and brimming with gifs, autoplay videos, and more Moments than you can shake a cursor at.
When did you first join Twitter, if ever? And what changes would you like to see Twitter make in the future? Tweet us @TrustedReviews.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.