History+of+Twitter

In the Beginning: Twitter's History and Ideas


 * And Jack Said, "Let There Be Twitter" . . . And There Was Twitter.** [[image:founders.jpg width="312" height="271" align="right" caption="Evan Williams (left), founder of Obvious, and Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter"]]
 * Innovator Jack Dorsey wondered if there was a way to build a program that could keep him informed about what his friends were doing.
 * He presented his idea for a new social networking tool to his colleagues, and they decided to build a prototype.
 * In March 2006, the first prototype of Twitter was produced.
 * It was initially funded by Obvious, a creative environment in San Francisco, CA.
 * Soon after the public launch in August 2006, Twitter outgrew Obvious.
 * In May 2007, Twitter Incorporated was founded.



And the People Saw That Twitter Was Good. . . **
 * [[image:twitter-for-iphone.png width="326" height="334" align="right"]] Twitter is all about //simplicity//:
 * People use Twitter's services to connect with others in a fast, convenient w ay.
 * Twitter presents the initial question: "What are you doing?"
 * Users' answers must be under 140 characters in length.
 * Updates may be sent via instant message, mobile texting, or the web.
 * At the company level (with all the confusing, technical jargon):
 * // Twitter's core technology is a device agnostic message routing system with rudimentary social networking features. //
 * So, the system can accept messages from sms, instant message, the web or mobile web, and from third party API (Application Programming Interface) projects. This makes it easier for users to stay connected whether at home, the office, the gym, or anywhere with a signal!




 * Be Fruitful and Multiply . . . and Multiply . . . and Multiply . . .**
 * Using Twitter allows people to stay connected to their friends, family, and (the most important) celebrities.
 * Twitter-ers are able to see what others are doing, thinking, etc., but responses to updates are not expected (unless the user wants to).
 * This gives users the freedom to control the flow of information
 * Users also have control of //whose updates they receive, when they receive them, and on what device//
 * Twitter updates may even be set to automatically turn off at certain times (a meeting, dinner, **dates**, etc.)



"About Twitter." //twitter.com//. Twitter, 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2009 .