Twitter is one of the most powerful social media platforms, but it was almost named FriendStalker. This is just one of the many interesting Twitter facts that people haven’t heard about before. Therefore, we have compiled a list of surprising facts and trivia about Twitter.
Twitter has seen many amazing events throughout the years, but the last few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride. Twitter has been making headlines for a few weeks, and now it has finally been bought by Elon Musk.
The world’s richest man now wants to make it into a free-speech platform. However, what he means by that is anyone’s guess. So let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the origins of the social media platform.
Top Twitter facts
Twitter could have been ‘FriendStalker’ or ‘twttr’
During its early days, the founders called Twitter many different names. One such name was ‘FriendStalker,’ which Evan Williams suggested, one of the co-founders of Twitter.
The service was also known as “Twttr,” which was the actual name chosen for this service. This name was under the suggestion of Noah Glass, another co-founder of Twitter, taking inspiration from Flikr. Glass came across Twitter while searching for words similar to Twitch.
Co-founder Jack Dorsey also sent the first tweet saying, “just setting up my twttr.”
Twitter originated from a startup: Odeo
Twitter originated from a startup known as Odeo, a podcasting platform. The startup was made by Evan Williams, Noah Glass, and Biz Stone. Jack Dorsey later joined the management team and created Twitter. He wanted to combine the SMS concept with a social media network.
Twitter debuted in March 2007 and launched the following month as a free SMS service with social networking elements. Despite the service lacking clear revenue, it has become an essential tool for amateur journalists and up-to-date news sources.
Twitter logo: Larry
Another interesting fact, the Twitter logo has a name, and it’s Larry T Bird. According to Biz Stone, the name was inspired by basketball legend Larry Bird. The current logo was designed by Martin Grasser just three years after he completed college.
The designer chose the hummingbird as an inspiration for the puffed-up chest of the Twitter logo bird. He wanted to make each part of the logo uniform, so he used 15 symmetrical circles for his design.
A user invented the hashtag, not Twitter
Twitter is known as the progenitor of the #hashtag feature, but it wasn’t the social media company that came up with the idea. In 2007, Chris Messina came up with the concept of filtering tweets and making them searchable by putting a # symbol on them.
According to Messina, he took the idea to Biz Stone, who probably half-listened to it and dismissed it as too nerdy to catch on. Little did he know that the hashtag would take over all internet social media platforms one day.
Twitter had a star-shaped favorite button
Before the heart-shaped Like button, Twitter had a star-shaped favorite button. The company made this change in 2015. Twitter was accused of copying Facebook, which introduced the like button in 2009. However, Facebook itself ripped off the like button from FriendFeed.
“We are changing our star icon for favorites to a heart and we’ll be calling them likes. We want to make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use, and we know that at times the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers. You might like a lot of things, but not everything can be your favorite.”
Twitter
Twitter is banned in these countries
Currently, the governments of China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have blocked access to Twitter. Egypt, Nigeria, and Turkey have also temporarily blocked access to Twitter on several occasions.
Russia is the most recent country that has blocked its citizens from accessing Twitter. The country began restricting access to Twitter quite recently after it invaded Ukraine.
Twitter facts: Top accounts and tweets
Most retweeted tweet
Over the years, Twitter has seen a lot of unique hashtags, tweets, and unforgettable moments. We have put together some of the most iconic moments on Twitter.
Currently, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa holds the record for the first and second most retweeted tweet. The billionaire gave away one million yen to hundreds of people in both tweets. To enter, people had to retweet and follow him.
Most liked tweet
The most-liked tweet came from the family of Chadwick Boseman, announcing his death in 2020. The family made the tweet through his account. This tweet is also the fourth most retweeted tweet of all time. The death of Chadwick Boseman, who was known for his role in the MCU, was quite a shock to the entire world.
The top 10 Twitter accounts are kind of inactive
As pointed out by Elon Musk, most of the top Twitter accounts rarely post anything. Justin Bieber, who has the second most followed account on Twitter, has only posted once this year. Taylor Swift has also not posted anything in over three months.
Other than that, most of these accounts post something every once. Former US president Barak Obama still has the most followed account on Twitter with over 131 million followers.
