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Introduc ing Twi t ter
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it was,” he began. “They called it a social network, they called it micro-
blogging, but it was hard to define, because it didn’t replace anything.
There was this path of discovery with something like that, where over time
you figure out what it is.”
Evan Williams was correct; Jack and his team needed to figure out
exactly how users would see Twitter before they began advertising it.
That moment came in 2007, at the South by Southwest Interactive Confer-
ence. This large conference features emerging technology that has not
yet gained popularity in the world. It is known to foster great ideas for
the future. Many innovators like Jack Dorsey go to this conference each
year.
Twitter was right at home at the South by Southwest Interactive Con-
ference. Jack and his team set up computer monitors where attendees
could monitor the tweets of other users. The service was mentioned by
panelists and speakers, which greatly increased the amount of people
who used Twitter during the conference. Tweets tripled from 20,000 per
day to 60,000 per day while the conference took place. At the end of
the conference, Twitter received the Web Award.
Many of Twitter’s first users were everyday people talking about their
lives, but the service caught on quickly. It didn’t take more than a year be-
fore celebrities and other famous people began using the service for their
own needs. Both 2008 presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John
Make Connections: Rapid Growth
At the start of 2007, there were 400,000 tweets posted per quar-
ter of the year. By 2008, one hundred million tweets were posted
per quarter. By 2011, 140 million tweets were posted daily, and
the website has continued to grow ever since.