Twitter is a social media platform created by Jack Dorsey, Ev Williams, and Biz Stone in 2006.
Twitter is open to everyone, but only registered users can post (called ‘tweeting’) or perform activities under existing tweets. These activities include replying, sharing, liking, or commenting.
In Q1 2016, Twitter recorded 310 million active users, with 79% of all accounts being outside of the US*. It is used mainly on mobile devices – in most countries, mobile usage is over 80%.
Twitter is more popular among young and middle-aged individuals (depends on the country, but mainly in 16-34) and is the perfect tool for discussing live events, sharing opinions, and engaging in current interests and issues. Over 7 thousand tweets are sent every second all over the world!
A Tweet is the main form of communication on Twitter. It is a short text message – max. 280 characters (before November 2017 the limit was 140 characters) – and can be attached with photos, videos, links, or hashtags (#hashtag). It’s also possible to mention other users by using ‘@‘ and his handle name (for example: @sotrender). Twitter also allows for direct messages between registered users.
Among average users, many brands currently use Twitter to interact with customers and promote their products. Because of how Tweets are structured and their conversational nature, brands need to find their own voice that builds a community and engages them. To succeed on Twitter, brands have to be personal, react quickly, be creative, all while having a bit of fun.
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