The reason for the social networking site's popularity is not hard to understand. Twitter doesn't have any of Facebook's hundreds of apps and ads to distract the member from keeping up with what one's friends are doing. On Twitter, users simply post a message on their profile which cannot be more than 140 characters. The messages are displayed in a chronological order, starting from the most recent one.
They can do this via a computer or through their cell phones. In fact, now almost 40% of the tweets are uploaded via cell phones. Users can allow their tweets to be public or private and overall the site is pretty easy to navigate. Twitter is also one of the few social networking tools where women are the majority users.
Twitter was launched in July 2006 and today has around 175 million accounts. The number of active users or regular users is not confirmed as it peaks during certain events, for example during sporting events or concerts or even during political events. One estimate puts the number of regular tweeters at just 10% of the members.
Regardless of the number of members, Twitter profiles of several high profile people keep getting in the news, sometimes creating controversies. During President Obama's address to Congress in February 2009, some members of Congress kept tweeting, drawing criticism from some quarters. There are even fake profiles of high profile people and organizations aimed at making fun of them.
Recently, the most prominent among these was the fake TSA profile, @tsagov, which has gems such as these: ''Security gates across the nation will be closed for 1 hour tonight in order for agents to watch Jersey Shore'' and ''In order to reduce the heated rhetoric in America, passengers are no longer allowed to speak at the security gate'' Twitter has also made celebrities out of some people. The new CBS sitcom, ''$h*! My Dad Says'' is based on the Twitter feed of comedy writer Justin Halpern.
Twitter's three founders were Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. But it was Dorsey who initially came up with the idea for the company. Twitter grew out of a podcasting service called the Odeo, a company focusing on enabling users to make podcasts easily. Dorsey approached the company with his idea, where he got support from Biz Stone. The duo, teamed up with Evan Williams (founder of Pyra Labs and Blogger) and founded Obvious which in turn spun off Twitter, Inc. Dorsey served as the CEO and got the fledging company two rounds of venture capital funding. From October 2008, Williams became CEO and Dorsey became chairman of the board.
Twitter has recently revealed that in November 2008, Facebook had made it a $500 million offer. But Twitter rejected the offer because it felt Facebook did not have anything substantial to offer. Very few people in Silicon Valley will turn down such a huge offer, especially when the company has no substantial revenue stream. This shows the confidence that Twitter's founders Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams have in their company.
Dorsey is now working on his new company, Square. The company makes a small square-like device that can be attached iPhones, iPads, and Android-based cell phones. The device is a mini-card reader which allows users to swipe their card, choose an amount and even sign their name.
Some Silicon Valley experts predict that Square is going to be the next PayPal. Square is expected to be a big hit among small businesses who want to avoid transaction costs associated with the traditional credit card processing equipment and fees.
