Rubab Fatima
What is X (formerly Twitter)?
X (known as Twitter until 2023) is a free social networking and microblogging site
where registered users can broadcast short posts, commonly known as tweets.
Tweets, of up to 280 characters, can contain text, videos, photos or links.
In addition to posting tweets, users can also share, like and reply to tweets with
short messages. Nonregistered users can only read tweets. Both registered and
nonregistered users need an internet connection and an internet-enabled device to
use the X app or its website (x.com).
Popular uses of X
One of the most common uses of X is to communicate with friends and to make
connections with other people. These connections are built and strengthened when
a user follows other user's X feeds and vice versa.
X is also used to share information quickly. Through tweets, registered users can
share information about different subjects -- politics, sports, fashion, cooking, and
so on -- with their followers. Followers are the people who follow an individual's
or company's X account. Once they do this, anything that individual or company
posts on X will appear on the follower's timeline and the follower can then share,
like and reply to those tweets.
While tweets can be delivered to followers in real time, they might seem like
instant messages (IMs). But unlike IMs that disappear when the user closes the
application, tweets are permanent, searchable and public. There is also an option
for users to protect their tweets so only their followers can read those them. Either
way, X provides a platform for users to simultaneously broadcast a message to
multiple other users. The more followers they have, the greater their reach and the
more the people will read and potentially engage with them.
X users can also retweet - or repeat tweets from other users -- to their own X
account so their followers can see the original poster's tweet.
Many people also use X to connect with companies or brands. This allows them to
get the latest updates and promotions from those brands. For some users, X is the
place to follow business leaders, politicians, sportspersons, and celebrities for
timely news and insights.
X provides a convenient way to stay current on the latest news and events,
including disasters. For example, X was the first source to break the news of the
water landing of U.S. Airways Flight 549 in New York City's Hudson River in
January 2009. The world first learned about this incident from a tweet and photo
posted to X by Janis Krums, a then 23-year-old passenger on a commuter ferry that
was trying to rescue the stranded passengers of Flight 549.
X users were also among the first to learn about other unfolding disasters, such as a
plane crash in Denver and a terrorist attack on a hotel in Mumbai -- both in 2008.
As with the Hudon River incident, here too one or more X users were live-tweeting
updates about these situations from those locations as they themselves were
experiencing them.
These uses notwithstanding, X is facing heat due to the growing problem of
spreading misinformation and disinformation on the platform. In fact, X (and
earlier Twitter) has been repeatedly criticized for allowing users -- particularly
prominent users with blue verification badges and huge numbers of followers -- to
spread misleading or incorrect information while facing minimal or no
consequences. For this reason, it is advisable for users to double-check the veracity
of any news or updates published on X.
History of X
In 2006, podcasting company Odeo was looking for new ideas. In March of that
year, engineer Jack Dorsey proposed creating a short messaging service (SMS) that
would allow users to share brief updates with friends. The idea of a microblogging
platform grew from here. Along with Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan
Williams started Obvious Corp. to further develop and market the product. Glass
proposed the name Twttr, derived from "twitter" which is a short burst of
inconsequential information and chirps from birds. Dorsey sent the first tweet in
March 2006, and the site became publicly available in July 2006.
Obvious Corp. received an infusion of venture capital and in April 2007 Twitter
was created. Dorsey became the company's first CEO.
By 2009, Twitter evolved from a niche social media curiosity to a mainstream
media phenomenon, with the number of unique visitors having increased by almost
1,300% since its launch. During the year, actor Ashton Kutcher became the first
Twitter user to collect more than a million followers, reflecting a growing trend
toward celebrity e-watching. Around this time, companies started using Twitter as
a business promotion tool and politicians started to add Twitter to their public and
media communication toolkits.
Also in 2009, Twitter introduced a verification badge that would be added to the
accounts of famous people. The objective was to assure followers that the famous
person or organization was genuine.
Other notable events in Twitter's history include the following:
2012: Twitter amasses 200 million active users and more than 100 million users
post 340 million tweets daily.
2013: Twitter is in the top 10 of the most visited websites in the world.
2013: Twitter files for IPO in September. The company's stock starts trading on the
NYSE under the symbol "TWTR" and the IPO raises $1.8 billion.
2015: Twitter's popularity grows but the company remains unprofitable.
2015: In a bid to boost profits, Twitter adds new features such as Moments that
would allow users to create collections of tweets and other content.
2017: Twitter becomes profitable for the first time.
2017: The previous character limit of 140 characters for tweets is increased to 280.
2019: Twitter has more than 330 million active users.
2020-2021: New features are added to entice more users, including Fleets
(collections of tweets that would vanish within 24 hours) and Spaces (Twitter
accounts with 600+ followers could host live audio conversations).
2020: Twitter is hacked, and hackers gain access to numerous high-profile
accounts, including the account of future owner Elon Musk.
2021: Dorsey steps down as CEO, is replaced by CTO Parag Agrawal.
2022: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, reaches an agreement to acquire
Twitter for $44 billion to make it a private company. Although Musk originally
withdraws his bid, the acquisition is eventually finalized in October. Musk fires
Agrawal, many other top leaders and 50% of the company's global staff.
2022: Users can now purchase the blue check mark verification for their accounts
for $8 per month.
2023: Twitter is rebranded as X and Twitter's ticker symbol (TWTR) is delisted on
major stock exchanges, including the NYSE.
2023: Twitter partners with investing platform eToro to publish financial education
content. Musk appoints Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter.
2025: In March, Musk sells X to his AI company xAI in a $33 billion all-stock
deal.
How X works
X allows users to post short content of up to 280 characters directly on the site or
using its app. This content was known as a tweet on Twitter but X has adopted the
new term of posts. Even so, the term tweet remains popular due to its enduring
recognition and is used interchangeably with posts. Users can comment on public
tweets, like tweets and retweet.
Users choose what they want to see on X by following other users, companies and
brands and searching topics. Generally, the timeline reflects the users' preferences,
but they might see retweets from people they follow as well as promoted tweets,
which are paid advertisements.
Posting a tweet
When users post a tweet on X, the messages are posted on their profile and then
appear in followers' feeds. These tweets can also be searched on X. Tweets might
include anything from jokes and news to random thoughts and links to articles.
Users must adhere to the restricted length of 280 characters per tweet, which
includes spaces and punctuation.
To weave tweets into a conversation thread or connect them to a general topic,
members can add hashtags to a keyword in their post. The hashtag, which acts like
a meta tag, is expressed as #keyword. This makes the tweet searchable under that
keyword. Also, all recent tweets that use that hashtag are displayed when a user
clicks on that hashtag.
Business uses for X
Businesses use X for brand awareness and public relations, usually as part of a
broader social media marketing strategy. Using X helps businesses to do the
following:
Interact with customers.
Provide timely customer service.
Partner with celebrities for ads or promotions.
Monitor the competition.
Conduct market research.
Announce new products, sales and events.
Issues and challenges with X
Spreading of fake news or disinformation.
Twitter bots.
Harassment and negative comments.
Data security and privacy.
