Tech Talks The Tech That Went Sh*tty: Twitter's First Employee on the Right to Exit and Open Protocols
Nov 21, 2025
Evan Henshaw-Plath, the first employee at Twitter and an early engineering leader, shares the platform's chaotic origins from Odeo's hackathons. He reflects on how user-driven features like hashtags and retweets emerged, contrasting that with the platform's later ad-driven changes. Henshaw-Plath discusses the concept of 'inshitification' and advocates for open protocols, highlighting Bluesky as a solution to centralization. He also emphasizes the importance of user choice in moderation and the need for innovative, human-centered tech solutions.
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Early Username Lucky Connections
- Evan tells how early Twitter usernames were arbitrarily assigned and single-letter names required engineering team help.
- He notes the 26 one-letter usernames all went to people with connections to the team.
Twitter Born From Odeo Hackathons
- Evan Henshaw-Plath recounts that Twitter began at Odeo after podcasting plans failed and as a series of hackathons.
- Jack Dorsey built the first working text-status prototype in one day and they expanded it over a few weeks.
Users Invented Twitter's Core Features
- Evan explains Twitter's core features like hashtags and retweets were user-generated rather than top-down product decisions.
- The company's role was mainly to listen and incorporate what users invented into the platform.