As Twitter celebrates its ninth birthday this week, the global social media network has decided to reveal the most influential tweets since its launch in 2006, and we have the list…
It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly a decade since we have been hashtaging our way through conversations, which are kept at a succinct 140 characters. Twitter was created in March 2006 (launched in July 2006) by the geniuses that are Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass.
By 2012 it had over 100 million users and in 2013 it was one the top 10 most visited websites. It now boasts over 500 million users, but whose tweets were the most influential? We reveal the nine most popular tweets – one for each year since it’s creation:
2006: Co-founder Jack Dorsey Tweeted first, when the service was called ‘Twttr.’
2007: Early user Chris Messina proposed the use of a hashtag to denote people at the same live event.
2008: When the Mars Phoenix Lander found ice on Mars, NASA used Twitter to break the news:
2009: Oprah Winfrey’s first tweet, and the speed with which she gained over a million followers, served as a tipping point for celebrities.
2010: In a royal first, Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’ private office, used Twitter to announce Prince William’s engagement to Kate Middleton. They also used social media to announce the royals were expecting a baby.
2011: Sohaib Athar became an instant online celebrity after he inadvertently live-tweeted the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.
2012: Before he appeared publicly to affirm his second presidential win, President Obama noted it on Twitter. And within hours it became the most retweeted for the year. Cute pic!
2013: When power went out at the Superdome during Super Bowl XLVII, Oreo Cookie created a genius, fast reacting advertisement, which showcased the potential power of Twitter as an advertising platform.
2014: The 2014 Oscars will always been remembered for ‘that selfie’, which became the most retweeted Tweet to date.
2015: As news broke about the attack at the offices of French magazine @Charlie_Hebdo, people everywhere turned to Twitter. @JoachimRoncin’s Tweet soon became a rallying cry for free speech.
