# History of Twitter
Twitter was a short-message social network created in 2006 inside the podcasting startup Odeo, which grew into a global venue for breaking news and public debate before being bought by [Elon Musk](https://www.edgepedia.org/elon-musk) in 2022 and rebranded as X.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First tweet | "just setting up my twttr," sent by Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006; the completed service debuted in July 2006[1](https://www.britannica.com/money/Twitter) |
| Defining constraint | 140 characters, chosen for compatibility with mobile-phone SMS[2](https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1282659/108613_Tracing_Twitter_MCP_7.3_2_vanDijck.art_edit_pdf.pdf) |
| IPO scale | More than 230 million monthly active users and more than 100 million daily active users at the November 2013 IPO[3](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513431301/d564001d424b4.htm) |
| Revenue peak | $4.5 billion in advertising plus $571 million in data licensing in 2021[4](https://www.statista.com/statistics/274566/twitters-annual-revenue-by-channel/) |
| Musk acquisition | Merger agreement April 25, 2022 at $54.20 per share; closed October 27, 2022[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm) • [6](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook) |
| User peak | An estimated 421 million monthly active users in 2023, with industry estimates of 388 million in 2024[7](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics/) |
| Post-acquisition arc | Ad revenue fell from $4.5 billion (2021) to $1.8 billion (2025); a $3.75 billion impairment was recorded against the Twitter brand[8](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-approach-advertisers-revenue-spacex-x-twitter-2026-5) • [9](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-spacex-ipo-reveals-what-really-happened-to-twitter.html) |
## Origins at Odeo and the founding dispute
Odeo was founded in 2004 by Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass as a podcasting venture. When Apple announced in 2005 that iTunes would add podcasts, Odeo's leadership concluded it could not compete with Apple and needed a new direction[1](https://www.britannica.com/money/Twitter). The company ran a hackathon in which employees broke into teams to propose ideas; the team that became Twitter comprised [Jack Dorsey](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-dorsey), an Odeo engineer, along with Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Crystal Taylor, and the project was an internal success from March 2006[10](https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/03/what-is-twitters-legacy-20-years-later/686570/).
**Who invented it.** The common account credits Dorsey with proposing an SMS-based service for sharing small, blog-like updates, and Glass with proposing the name Twttr; Dorsey sent the first message on March 21, 2006[1](https://www.britannica.com/money/Twitter). Scholarly and interview accounts complicate this: the founding engineering work began in February 2006 with Noah Glass, Florian Weber, and Jack Dorsey, with a demonstration ready by March[11](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282). Dorsey's status-update idea was seemingly inspired by TxtMob, a protest-oriented messaging tool, though he had sketched similar thinking in 2001 without text messages[11](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282). In October 2006, Williams, Stone, and Dorsey bought out Odeo and started Obvious Corp. to develop the product[1](https://www.britannica.com/money/Twitter); Twttr had been publicly launched in July 2006 amid a restructuring at Odeo[12](https://www.kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/server/api/core/bitstreams/0404e730-cbe3-42ff-8f4c-9f3cc686a2c7/content). Glass's later marginalization remains a contested part of the founding story[11](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282).
## Growth and product-defining moments
Twitter was first described as the "SMS of the Internet," and the 140-character limit was chosen for compatibility with mobile-phone SMS services; in 2006 it was characterized as something between a short message service, a phone call, an e-mail, and a blog[2](https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1282659/108613_Tracing_Twitter_MCP_7.3_2_vanDijck.art_edit_pdf.pdf). Early adoption was tiny: about 5,000 users by September 2006, the same as TxtMob, despite a usage spike around the San Francisco earthquake of August 2006[11](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282).
The breakout came in 2007 at the SXSW conference, after Twitter added API and instant-message integration[11](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282). The platform's flat, open structure, public accounts by default and free following, combined with user-generated hashtags, enabled bottom-up news surfacing and the "ambient news" uses documented in early scholarship[13](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3247).
## Business model and the long road to profit
Twitter followed the strategy of building an audience of users first and finding revenue streams later, as YouTube and Facebook did[2](https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1282659/108613_Tracing_Twitter_MCP_7.3_2_vanDijck.art_edit_pdf.pdf). Four years after launch, market analysts still wondered whether Twitter was in search of a business model; until 2010 the owners remained vague about monetization plans and relied on venture capital[2](https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1282659/108613_Tracing_Twitter_MCP_7.3_2_vanDijck.art_edit_pdf.pdf). By 2015 the company's rhetoric had shifted toward generating revenue, and it invested in ill-fated ventures such as Vine and [Periscope](https://www.edgepedia.org/periscope)[13](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3247).
Revenue, once it arrived, grew quickly. From 2011 to 2012 revenue increased 198% to $316.9 million, with net loss decreasing 38% to $79.4 million; from 2012 to 2013 it increased 110% to $664.9 million[14](https://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/90184L/20140328/AR_202076/pubData/source/Twitter,%20Inc%202013%20Annual%20Report.pdf). At the November 2013 IPO the company reported more than 230 million monthly active users and more than 100 million daily active users[3](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513431301/d564001d424b4.htm). Advertising peaked at more than $4.5 billion in 2021, up from $3.2 billion in 2020, alongside $571 million in data licensing revenue[4](https://www.statista.com/statistics/274566/twitters-annual-revenue-by-channel/). In 2022 Twitter generated $4.4 billion in total revenue, predominantly from advertising[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/).
## Moderation, politics, and controversy
A peer-reviewed study of Twitter's moderation between 2006 and 2022 concludes that the company aimed to build a "crisis-resistant" speech architecture able to withstand external shocks and shifting speech norms, through what its authors call "modulated moderation" resting on normative plasticity, rather than simply holding an Americanized free-speech view[16](https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/73/3/273/7204763).
**The Hunter Biden story.** In October 2020 Twitter suppressed the [Hunter Biden](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunter-biden) laptop story for a few days, in part out of concerns that the son of the then-Democratic presidential candidate was being targeted[17](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/politics/twitter-files-elon-musk-fbi-hunter-biden-laptop). The company blocked transmission of links via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases such as child pornography[18](https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/1-thread-the-twitter-files). After Elon Musk released internal documents as the "Twitter Files" beginning in December 2022, to journalists including [Matt Taibbi](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-taibbi) and [Bari Weiss](https://www.edgepedia.org/bari-weiss)[19](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23505370/twitter-files-elon-musk-taibbi-weiss-covid), CNN's review found that none of the released messages explicitly showed the FBI directing Twitter to suppress the story, and sworn FBI testimony and interviews with half a dozen tech executives denied any such directive[17](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/politics/twitter-files-elon-musk-fbi-hunter-biden-laptop).
**The Trump ban.** Twitter banned Donald Trump in January 2021 over comments during the U.S. Capitol riots that the company said could lead to "further incitement of violence"[20](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/29/a-brief-history-of-twitter-from-its-founding-in-2006-to-musk-takeover.html). [Twitter Files](https://www.edgepedia.org/twitter-files) parts 3, 4, and 5 focus on the decision, showing that Twitter leaders applied shifting standards before banning him on January 8, 2021, citing two tweets that violated the "glorification of violence" policy and a "risk of further incitement of violence"[19](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23505370/twitter-files-elon-musk-taibbi-weiss-covid). Before January 6, 2021, the company combined automated rules-based enforcement with subjective moderation by senior executives and deployed a wide array of visibility-manipulation tools against Trump[21](https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/the-removal-of-donald-trump). Its first speech-control tools had been designed to combat spam and financial fraudsters before being extended to political content[18](https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/1-thread-the-twitter-files).
## The Musk acquisition
On April 25, 2022, Twitter entered into a merger agreement with X Holdings I, Inc. and X Holdings II, Inc., with Elon Musk party to certain provisions, under which an acquisition sub would merge into Twitter[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm). Each outstanding share was to be converted into $54.20 in cash without interest[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm). Musk committed equity financing of up to approximately $21 billion, debt financing of approximately $13 billion, and margin loan financing of approximately $12.5 billion, via commitment letters dated April 25, 2022[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm). Musk had accumulated a 9.1% stake beginning in January 2022 before offering $54.20 per share, about $44 billion[6](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook).
The deal closed on October 27, 2022, after which Musk fired approximately half the company within 48 hours[6](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook). The takeover date is given in scholarly accounts as 27 October 2022, after which the platform was rebranded as "X" and the Twitter name ceased to exist[13](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3247).
## By the numbers
Monthly active users grew from an estimated 40 million in 2010 to 218 million in 2013, 313 million in 2016, and 362 million in 2021, reaching a peak of about 421 million in 2023 before falling to 388 million in 2024, with roughly 200 million daily actives[7](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics/). Advertising revenue ran $4.5 billion in 2021, $2.3 billion in 2023 per the SpaceX filing, $1.7 billion in 2024, and $1.8 billion in 2025[8](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-approach-advertisers-revenue-spacex-x-twitter-2026-5). Post volume fell from the 500 million posts per day X reported in 2023 to about 350 million per day as of 2026[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/).
User counts under Musk are disputed. The SpaceX filing reports 1.3 billion "supported accounts active in the last twelve months" for X and Grok combined, converting to 520 million monthly active users, a figure that may include fake, spam, or bot accounts[9](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-spacex-ipo-reveals-what-really-happened-to-twitter.html); industry estimates instead put the 2024 figure at 388 million[7](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics/). The filing-based count of about 550 million users as of March 2026 is lower than the 600 million MAU X had repeatedly claimed[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/).
## Recent developments
**Rebrand and impairment.** The company recorded a onetime $3.75 billion impairment primarily related to the Twitter brand following the rebranding to X[9](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-spacex-ipo-reveals-what-really-happened-to-twitter.html); brand consultancies estimated the rebrand destroyed $4 billion in brand value[6](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook). Advertising revenue declined in 2023 and 2024, then rose slightly in 2025[9](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-spacex-ipo-reveals-what-really-happened-to-twitter.html); Emarketer estimated a steeper fall of 51.7% to $2 billion in 2023[22](https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/threads-finally-passes-x-zuckerbergs-2-year-old-platform-passes-musks-in-daily-users/), a discrepancy with the filing's $2.3 billion that remains unresolved.
**Subscriptions and Grok.** X and xAI have approximately 6.3 million active paid subscribers, about 4.4 million on X Premium and Premium+ and about 1.9 million on SuperGrok tiers, so fewer than 1% of X users pay for Premium[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/). Grok has about 117 million monthly active users, roughly 21% of X users[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/).
**The xAI merger.** Advertising's centrality diminished in March 2025 when Musk merged the app into his AI company xAI; xAI's AI revenue reached about $1.35 billion in 2025, up 52% year over year, and advertising now accounts for a fraction of the combined company's $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue[8](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-approach-advertisers-revenue-spacex-x-twitter-2026-5). xAI itself reported a $6.4 billion operating loss on $3.2 billion of revenue in 2025[15](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/). [Linda Yaccarino](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-yaccarino), hired as CEO to rebuild advertiser relationships, resigned in July 2025[6](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook). Researchers have documented processes of platform decline since the acquisition, described by [Cory Doctorow](https://www.edgepedia.org/cory-doctorow) as "enshittification"[23](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3283).
## References
1. [X (formerly Twitter): Founding, History, Elon Musk — Britannica Money](https://www.britannica.com/money/Twitter)
2. [Tracing the History of Twitter (van Dijck), Television & New Media](https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/1282659/108613_Tracing_Twitter_MCP_7.3_2_vanDijck.art_edit_pdf.pdf)
3. [Twitter, Inc. Prospectus (Rule 424(b)(4)), November 2013, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513431301/d564001d424b4.htm)
4. [X/Twitter: annual segment revenues, Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/274566/twitters-annual-revenue-by-channel/)
5. [Twitter, Inc. DEFA14A — Agreement and Plan of Merger with X Holdings I, Inc., April 25, 2022, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm)
6. [X (formerly Twitter) vs Meta (Facebook), FreeMalta](https://freemalta.com/markets/company-stories/compare/twitter-vs-facebook)
7. [X Revenue and Usage Statistics, Business of Apps](https://www.businessofapps.com/data/twitter-statistics/)
8. [Elon Musk's Hard Sell to Advertisers Failed to Move the Needle for X, Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-approach-advertisers-revenue-spacex-x-twitter-2026-5)
9. [The SpaceX IPO Reveals What Really Happened to Twitter, New York Magazine Intelligencer](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-spacex-ipo-reveals-what-really-happened-to-twitter.html)
10. [What Is Twitter's Legacy, 20 Years Later? The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/03/what-is-twitters-legacy-20-years-later/686570/)
11. [From Indymedia to Tahrir Square, ACM CHI](https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3485447.3512282)
12. [Scholarly manuscript on Twitter's origins at Odeo, KERWA repository](https://www.kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/server/api/core/bitstreams/0404e730-cbe3-42ff-8f4c-9f3cc686a2c7/content)
13. [The Death of Twitter and the Decline of Public Debate Online, M/C Journal](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3247)
14. [Twitter, Inc. 2013 Annual Report](https://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/90184L/20140328/AR_202076/pubData/source/Twitter,%20Inc%202013%20Annual%20Report.pdf)
15. [SpaceX filing provides insight into X, Grok and xAI, Social Media Today](https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/spacex-filing-provides-insight-into-x-grok-and-xai/820945/)
16. [Modulating moderation: a history of objectionability in Twitter moderation practices, Journal of Communication](https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/73/3/273/7204763)
17. [No directive: FBI agents, tech executives deny government ordered Twitter to suppress Hunter Biden story, CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/politics/twitter-files-elon-musk-fbi-hunter-biden-laptop)
18. [THE TWITTER FILES, Matt Taibbi, Substack](https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/1-thread-the-twitter-files)
19. [Why the Twitter Files released by Elon Musk matter, Vox](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/15/23505370/twitter-files-elon-musk-taibbi-weiss-covid)
20. [A brief history of Twitter: From its founding in 2006 to Musk takeover, CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/29/a-brief-history-of-twitter-from-its-founding-in-2006-to-musk-takeover.html)
21. [THE REMOVAL OF DONALD TRUMP, Matt Taibbi, Substack](https://twitterfiles.substack.com/p/the-removal-of-donald-trump)
22. [Threads finally passes X in daily users, Forbes Australia](https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/threads-finally-passes-x-zuckerbergs-2-year-old-platform-passes-musks-in-daily-users/)
23. [Twenty Years Later, M/C Journal](https://www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3283)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Technology founders and companies › Software and internet, United States and Canada › Consumer internet, marketplaces, and games*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license