Global InformationTwitter information
 Logo used since July 2023[a] | |
 X homepage visited while logged out in April 2024 | |
| Formerly | Twitter (2006–2023) |
|---|---|
Type of site | Social networking service |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Founded | March 21, 2006, in San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide, except blocking countries |
| Owner |
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| Founder(s) |
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| Chairman | Elon Musk |
| CEO | Linda Yaccarino |
| URL | twitter |
| Registration | Required[b] |
| Users | 550 million MAU (September 2023)[3] |
| Launched | July 15, 2006 |
| Current status | Active |
| Native client(s) on |
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| Written in |
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X, commonly referred to by its former name Twitter, is a social media website based in the United States. With over 500 million users, it is one of the world's largest social networks and the fifth-most visited website in the world.[4][5] Users can share text messages, images, and videos through short posts (originally called "tweets").[6] X also includes direct messaging, video and audio calling, bookmarks, lists and communities, and Spaces, a social audio feature. Users can vote on context added by approved users using the Community Notes feature.
The service is owned by the American company X Corp., the successor of Twitter, Inc. Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, and launched in July of that year. Twitter grew quickly, and by 2012[update], more than 100 million users produced 340 million tweets per day.[7] Twitter, Inc., was based in San Francisco, California, and had more than 25 offices around the world.[8] A signature characteristic of the service is that posts are required to be brief (originally 140 characters, later expanded to 280 in 2017).[9] The majority of tweets are produced by a minority of users.[10][11] In 2020, it was estimated that approximately 48 million accounts (15% of all accounts) were not genuine people.[12]
In October 2022, billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter for US$44 billion, gaining control of the platform and becoming the chief executive officer (CEO).[13][14][15][16] He wanted to promote free speech, but since the acquisition, the platform has been criticized for enabling the increased spread of disinformation[17][18][19] and hate speech.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Linda Yaccarino succeeded Musk as CEO on June 5, 2023, with Musk remaining as the chairman and the chief technology officer.[27][28][29] In July 2023, Musk announced that Twitter would be rebranded to X and the bird logo would be retired.[30][31] In December 2023, Fidelity estimated the value of the company to be down 71.5 percent from its purchase price.[32] Although the service is now called X, the primary domain name 'twitter.com' remains in place as of April 2024[update], with the 'x.com' URL redirecting to that address.
- ^ Ashworth, Louis (July 24, 2023). "The logo of X, formerly Twitter, wasn't actually stolen". Financial Times. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Musk, Elon Reeve [@elonmusk] (July 24, 2023). "𝕏" (Tweet). Retrieved July 30, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (September 18, 2023). "Elon Musk says Twitter, now X, is moving to monthly subscription fees and has 550 million users". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 18, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^ "Top Websites Ranking". Similarweb. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ "twitter.com". Similarweb.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ Conger, Kate (August 3, 2023). "So What Do We Call Twitter Now Anyway?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ "Twitter turns six". Twitter. March 21, 2012. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
- ^ "Company: "About Twitter"". Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Twitter_500was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Carlson, Nicholas (June 2, 2009). "Stunning New Numbers on Who Uses Twitter". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
- ^ Wojcik, Stefan; Hughes, Adam (April 24, 2019). "Sizing Up Twitter Users". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Rodriguezwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Isaac, Mike; Hirsch, Lauren (April 25, 2022). "Musk's deal for Twitter is worth about $44 billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ Feiner, Lauren (April 25, 2022). "Twitter accepts Elon Musk's buyout deal". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ Kay, Grace; Hays, Kali. "Elon Musk is officially Twitter's new owner, and he's firing executives already". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ^ Olmstead, Todd (October 28, 2022). "Twitter Purchased by Elon Musk: A Timeline of How It Happened". WSJ. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
- ^ Milmo, Dan (October 9, 2023). "X criticised for enabling spread of Israel-Hamas disinformation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ Goswami, Rohan (October 9, 2023). "X, formerly Twitter, amplifies disinformation amid the Israel-Hamas conflict". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ Lyngaas, Sean; O'Sullivan, Donie; Duffy, Clare (October 9, 2023). "Elon Musk's X adds to fog of war at outset of Israel-Hamas conflict". CNN. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ Sato, Mia (December 2, 2022). "Hate speech is soaring on Twitter under Elon Musk, report finds". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ "New Data Suggests that Hate Speech is on the Rise on Twitter 2.0". Social Media Today. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Frenkel, Sheera; Conger, Kate (December 2, 2022). "Hate Speech's Rise on Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Kolodny, Lora (November 16, 2023). "Elon Musk boosts antisemitic tweet, claims ADL and other groups push 'anti-white' messaging". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Gangitano, Alex (November 17, 2023). "White House blasts Elon Musk's 'unacceptable' antisemitic tweet". The Hill. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ "Elon Musk promotes anti-trans content as hate speech surges on his far-right platform". The Independent. June 5, 2023. Archived from the original on August 7, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Yang, Angela (April 18, 2023). "Twitter quietly changes its hateful conduct policy to remove standing protections for its transgender users". NBC News. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Frier, Sarah (June 5, 2023). "Twitter's New CEO Linda Yaccarino Has First Day in the Role". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ Miller, Monica (December 21, 2022). "Elon Musk to quit as Twitter CEO when replacement found". BBC News. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ "Twitter's New CEO Linda Yaccarino Has First Day in the Role". Bloomberg.com. June 6, 2023. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Valinsky, Jordan (July 24, 2023). "Twitter X logo: Elon Musk rebrands social media platform". CNN Business. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ "Elon Musk reveals rebranding of Twitter as X - and what he wants us to now call a tweet". Sky News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Primack, Dan (December 31, 2023). "Elon Musk's X gets another valuation cut from Fidelity". Axios. Archived from the original on December 31, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
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