Land of the Giants
What We All Got Wrong About Twitter
Oct 25, 2023
Explore the misconceptions surrounding Twitter's role in the Iranian protests, the challenges faced during its rapid growth, and its struggles with generating revenue. Learn about the power and influence of Twitter and how it has shaped the current landscape.
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Quick takeaways
- Twitter began as a side project aiming to do for audio what Blogger did for writing, but it transformed into a microblogging platform inspired by instant messaging statuses.
- Despite its influence on global conversations and cultural discourse, Twitter struggled with leadership changes, user retention, and monetization, raising questions about its future in the changing landscape of social media.
Deep dives
The Origins and Vision of Twitter
Twitter began as a side project called Odeo, aiming to do for audio what Blogger did for writing. However, when Apple made it easy to move podcasts onto an iPod, Odeo became irrelevant. The company held a hack day, and that's when developer Jack Dorsey came up with the idea for Twitter, a microblogging platform inspired by instant messaging statuses. Twitter's early vision was to become the public town square and a platform for free speech. It gained attention for its role during the Iran presidential election protests in 2009 when the US State Department asked Twitter to stay up, believing it was crucial for protesters to organize. While some felt Twitter was shaping events, protesters on the ground did not see it as essential.
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