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The Changing Dynamics of Twitter 

The Changing Dynamics of Twitter

According to Statista, Twitter had 300 million active users in the year 2022[1]. This number is only expected to continually increase in the near future. Hence, it can be said that Twitter is currently one of the most powerful social networking platforms. It is a handy platform to connect with people across the world and exchange thoughts.

 

As Twitter is a microblogging platform, people use Twitter for sharing news and opinions in 140 characters or less. Now Twitter has evolved into a powerful tool that, if it is used effectively, can help in building a more significant and rememberable brand. Since its inception, Twitter has changed dramatically. Many new features have been adopted and a few have been dropped.

 

In this blog, we will walk you through how Twitter has changed so drastically over the years.

The Changing Dynamics of Twitter 1

Where it Came From & Where is it Going?

Let’s have a look at the Twitter’s journey and the key milestones that Twitter has achieved

 

Jack Dorsett, one of Twitter’s co-founders, had a concept for such service in 2006. Dorsey had viewed Twitter as an SMS-based communication platform. It allowed people to stay in touch and give updates on what they were up to.

Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, and a German contract developer launched Twitter as a microblogging platform for users to send brief text messages to friends and family with a restriction of 140 characters.

In this year Evan Williams took over as CEO and Jack Dorsey was elected as Chairman of the board.
Twitter grew into an engaging platform by launching verified blue ticks, hyperlinks, hashtags, and the option to retweet. So that Twitter users remain up to date on current events.
Twitter’s user interface was updated in this year. Twitter also started generating revenue by displaying sponsored results on search results pages.

    In this year, the Quickbar was a promoted trend that continuously floated at the top of Twitter.com in the form of a grey box. However, due to some reason, many users found this experiment to be controversial. Due to the controversy, the company decided to drop the feature.
    Vine was developed by Twitter to dominate the world of video in social media. In this year, animated GIFs were also introduced.
    Twitter hit another milestone by purchasing GoPro. This enabled live streaming which garnered extraordinary responses from users.
    In this year Twitter’s site underwent a significant makeover. In the same year, a ‘Plus’ button feature was also added that enabled users to reply to a tweet.
    In this year, Twitter enabled longer tweets and increased the character limit from 140 to 280 characters.

    Former US President Donald Trump’s account was banned by Twitter and then permanently removed after two days. Also, they have also erased ten thousand accounts of politicians and journalists. The platform also added a new message that prompted users to consider whether to post a “potentially harmful” tweet before sending it.

    All these modifications, which have been developed over several years, make Twitter more user-friendly and engaging. The main thing to remember is that despite these changes, Twitter always remains a vital tool for connecting and sharing information with others, and it is constantly evolving. With Elon Musk taking over Twitter/coming into the picture, some “drastic” changes are coming up.

    Elon takes over Twitter in October 2022

    On October 22, 2022, Elon Musk, Founder of Tesla, SpaceX, & PayPal became the new CEO of Twitter. By taking over as Twitter’s CEO, Mr. Musk has taken the following decisions for Twitter:

     

    • Elon made a decision to charge $20 USD a month for Twitter Blue.
    • Twitter has set up a paywall, which limits access to users who have paid for the subscriptions. And it also allowed them to upload videos and select one of the pricing rates accordingly. But if they don’t want to pay for the videos, they may still like and share them on Twitter.
    • The video would only be viewable to those users who have paid the requested amount. After taking a portion, the remaining amount will be deposited via Stripe into the creator’s account.

    The Future of Twitter

    After purchasing Twitter, Musk revealed this month that he intends to launch a new “everything app” named “X.” This app, which is based on a Chinese app WeChat, might be an all-in-one mega app. ‘X’ might be described as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and PayPal bundled into one site.

     

    Elon tweeted on Tuesday, October 29, 2022 that acquiring Twitter will accelerate the development of X by 3 to 5 years. It’s unclear what Musk has in mind, but he has frequently expressed the desire for Twitter to expand beyond tweets to give tough competition to its rival WeChat in terms of popularity.

     

    The billionaire businessman said at a town hall with Twitter employees in June that WeChat is so practical and helpful for daily life that you practically live on it in China. If Twitter can reach that or even come close, Musk says, it will be a huge success. Because of Musk’s prior experience in building payment platforms, a powerful app may be easier to develop. He founded PayPal, then known as X.com, one of the first online payment systems that gained international fame.

    Conclusion

    The dynamics of Twitter have shifted over the years. As the platform has grown, people’s use of it has also changed. It is an excellent platform for businesses and individuals alike, but only if you use it in a way that best fits your needs. Twitter has changed substantially over the years, and with Musk taking over and acquiring Twitter, more dramatic changes are expected over the years.