It’s hard to imagine life now without it, but Twitter has only just reached its 10-year milestone. The social media app announced its tenth birthday in a thank you email to users: “Ten years ago today, it began with a single Tweet. Since then, every moment of everyday, people connect live about the things they care about most - all over the world. Throughout the years, you’ve made Twitter what it is today and you’re shaping what it will be in the future. And for that, we thank you!”
Despite constant evolution within the digital marketplace, Twitter remains a popular communication tool. Five hundred million tweets are shared globally, with 320 million monthly active users at present. Adnews reported the company’s global revenue ranked at $US720 million in February of this year.
Twitter Australia MD Karen Stocks believes its success lies in its ability to adapt, especially when it comes to advertising - the company logged a 48 per cent year-on-year increase in advertising spend last year with 300 new advertisers joining the platform.
According to Stocks, Twitter’s real appeal is its immediacy: “The context of Twitter has changed but it’s been part of a fundamental shift in how we communicate. Can you imagine a world without Twitter? It’s a live connection to culture – national, local, global events, and it’s 10 minutes faster than any other platform in the world.”
As for whether it will be around for another decade, Stocks comments: “I have no doubt we’ll be around in 10 years. Twitter is a way to connect live in the moment, a live connection with culture. The context of that could change, but we’ll be around. It could be machine learning, AI, VR – who knows what could happen.”
