Following Twitter

FOLLOWING twitter From o to 20o million Tweets in 5 years When it first appeared, with its 140-character limitation and lack of conversation threads, Twitter hardly seemed like the communications revolution it has become. But 200 people now Tweet about everything: from what they had for lunch to breaking news, all to the tune of 200 million Tweets a day. Twitter's even played a significant role in disaster relief and political revolutions. Here's a look at its brief, but explosive five-year history. MILLION TWEETS SENT EACH DAY JANUARY 'O6 350 Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone of San Francisco podcasting startup Odeo come up with the idea for a product based on status updates. BILLION TWEETS DELIVERED* EACH DAY *EACH TWEET IS "DELIVERED" TO MULTIPLE FOLLOWERS' TIMELINES FEBRUARY '06 Work begins on "Twttr" (the Twitter.com domain is owned by a birding enthusiast). JULY '06 Twttr is available to the public. SEPTEMBER '06 Name changes to Twitter. JULY '07 Twitter closes its first outside round of funding, from Union Square OCTOBER '07 Ventures, Charles River Ventures and several angel investors. Twitter used to track updates on wildfires in California. APRIL '08 One Tweet helps free American student James Buck from an Egyptian jail. MAY '08 Twitter's "Fail Whale" image debuts. OCTOBER '08 Twitter is used to find gas during a shortage in Atlanta. LAUNCH DAY TOTAL NOVEMBER '08 Mumbai residents use Twitter to 224 TWEETS share information about terrorist attacks. TODAY JANUARY '09 IN UNDER 1/10th of TwitPic of US Airways plane landing in NYC's Hudson River is shared on Twitter; the photo is the first from the scene, breaking the news before A SECOND traditional media. APRIL '09 Protesters in Moldova use Twitter to communicate a revolution. Oprah joins Twitter. Ashton Kutcher challenges CNN to a race to be the first to reach i million followers. JUNE '09 Twitter used by protesters and media during Iran elections. SEPTEMBER '09 Twitter used to quickly spread updates to families during flooding in the Philippines. APRIL '10 Twitter donates access to the entire archive of public Tweets to the Library of Congress. JULY '10 World Cup and NBA Finals smash Twitter usage records. OCTOBER '10 Twitter launches promoted accounts. #WINNING #TIGERBLOOD #TEAMSHEEN #GODDESSES JANUARY '11 Twitter takes a hands-off approach to Tweets containing political or "controversial" content. MARCH '11 Charlie Sheen starts #winning. JUNE '11 SIDENT ***** OF THE U Barack Obama starts Tweeting. SEAL TODAY, twitter HAS MORE 20 O MILLION THAN REGISTERED ACCOUNTS TWEETS PER DAY: EXPLOSIVE GROWTH JANUARY 2009 > 2 MILLION / DAY 2009-2010 JULY 2009 > 12 MILLION / DAY JANUARY 2010 > 32 MILLION / DAY JULY 2010 > 65 MILLION / DAY SEPTEMBER 2010 > 90 MILLION / DAY CURRENTLY SEPTEMBER 2010 > 90 MILLION / DAY JULY 2011 > 200 MILLION / DAY /visual.ly OF THE PRE