Twitter is one of the most powerful social media platforms, but it has almost been dubbed the “friend stalking tool” or FriendStalker. This is just one of many interesting facts about Twitter that people haven’t heard of before.
So we’ve put together a list of surprising facts and trivia about Twitter.
Twitter Could’ve Also Be Called FriendStalker or a “Tool for Stalking Friends”
During their beginnings, the founders called Twitter various names. One such name was FriendStalker, suggested by Evan Williams, one of the co-founders of Twitter.
The service was also known as “Twttr”, which was the real name chosen for this service. Noah Glass, another one considered an institutor of Twitter, who provided the inspiration for Flickr, recommended this name. While looking for words that were similar to Twitch, Glass stumbled upon the term Twitter.
Twitter Originated From a Startup Called “Odeo”
Twitter originated from a startup known as Odeo, a podcasting platform. Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams founded the businesses. Later on, Jack Dorsey joined the management team and founded Twitter. He wanted to connect the concept of SMS with a social network.
Twitter debuted in March 2007 and launched the following month as a free SMS service with elements of social networking. Despite the fact that the service has no clear revenue, it has become a key tool for amateur journalists and updated news sources.
Twitter’s Logo Is Called Larry
Another fun fact: Twitter’s logo has a name, and that’s Larry T Bird. Larry Bird, as per Biz Stone, was the inspiration for the name.
Martin Grasser designed the present logo just three years after graduating from college. The inflatable breast bird logo for Twitter was designed using the hummingbird as inspiration. He employed 15 symmetrical circles in his design to make each part of the emblem consistent.
Hashtag Was an Idea of the User, Not Twitter’s Idea
Although Twitter is credited with inventing the “#hashtag” function, it wasn’t the social media business that came up with the concept.
In 2007, Chris Messina came up with the concept of filtering tweets and made them open to search, putting the “#” symbol on them.
On Twitter, Gambling Advertisements Are Limited
Except for ads targeting certain nations, where it’s authorized with restrictions as detailed below, Twitter prohibits the marketing of gambling content, causing headaches to casino sites from the Rival casino list. Advertisers are only permitted in the instances indicated below if they have received prior approval from Twitter.
Among other things, this policy covers, but isn’t limited to, the following: bingo, lotteries, sports betting, online casinos and gambling, physical casino locations, sites that offer fantasy sports, gambling affiliates, gambling software, and sites/services that offer betting advice and forecasts.
Mobile Phones Were the Impetus for the 140-Character Tweets
The 140-character restriction was established due to the widespread use of mobile phones, which have a text message limit of 160 characters. Twitter wanted to allow users to send tweets using SMS messaging.
The character limit has been increased to 280 characters. This demonstrates how rapidly technology evolves.
Twitter Is Banned in Some Countries
Currently, the governments of China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have shut off way into Twitter.
Turkey, Egypt, and Nigeria have been briefly disabling access to Twitter at various times.
