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Twitter

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Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. While the service costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees.

Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has gained notability and popularity worldwide. It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet" since the use of Twitter's application programming interface for sending and receiving short text messages by other applications often eclipses the direct use of Twitter.

Twitter is ranked as one of the 50 most popular websites worldwide by Alexa's web traffic analysis. Although estimates of the number of daily users vary because the company does not release the number of active accounts, a February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranked Twitter as the third most used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits. In March 2009, a Nielsen.com blog ranked Twitter as the fastest-growing site in the Member Communities category for February 2009. Twitter had a monthly growth of 1,382 percent, Zimbio of 240 percent, followed by Facebook with an increase of 228 percent. However, only 40 percent of Twitter's users are retained.

For more information about Twitter, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with twitter

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Twitter now wants to know "What's happening?"

"What's happening?" Twitter wants to know

Technology / Internet

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Twitter used to ask "What are you doing?" No longer. The micro-blogging service now wants to know "What's happening?"


End of the e-mail era? I'm not buying it

Technology / Internet

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

I don't know about you, but I'm overwhelmed by e-mail. Yes, I know. The Wall Street Journal has declared that e-mail's reign is over. It's supposedly being replaced by technologies such as instant messaging, social networking ...


Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search

Technology / Internet

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.


World's first album of Twitter music available now

World's first album of Twitter music available now

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (3) | comments 0

For the first time, you can now download an album of digital music written exclusively for Twitter.


The Webby Awards list of the 10 most most influential Internet moments of the decade

Webby Awards name top 10 Internet moments of the decade

Technology / Internet

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The birth of Wikipedia, the death of Napster, the iPhone, Facebook, and Twitter were named by the Webby Awards on Wednesday as among the top 10 Internet moments of the decade.


Nokia N900

Nokia N900 now available in US

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Nokia today announced that the highly anticipated Nokia N900 is now on sale in the United States and shipping to consumers who jumped on the opportunity to be among the first to pre-order the Maemo-powered ...


Twitter logo

Twitter to overhaul user list seen as partisan

Technology / Internet

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Social-networking site Twitter plans to end a service that links prominent message posters with new users, a service that was criticized in California because of perceived unfairness toward GOP gubernatorial ...


Astronauts board space shuttle Atlantis for launch (AP)

Astronauts board space shuttle Atlantis for launch

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Astronauts climbed aboard space shuttle Atlantis on Monday for an afternoon liftoff to the space station, as the sky over the launching site gradually cleared.


Twitter logo

Twitter to scrap controversial suggested user list

Technology / Internet

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Social-media site Twitter plans to scrap its hand-picked list of "suggested users" to follow after controversy erupted over the selection of people on the list, a company executive said Monday.


Geeky 'tweeters' to report on space shuttle launch (AP)

Geeky 'tweeters' to report on space shuttle launch

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Fingers will be flying when space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Monday: About 100 of NASA's geekiest fans will be on hand, pecking away at iPhones, BlackBerrys, laptops and other Twittering gadgets.


Microsoft XBOX 360

Xbox Live boots pirate videogame players; will link to Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Microsoft said Thursday that its Xbox 360 videogame console will be able to link online starting next week with Twitter and Facebook along with Internet radio star Last.fm.


Retailers use social media to advertise deals

Technology / Internet

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- You may want to check Facebook and Twitter before heading to the mall the day after Thanksgiving.


LinkedIn was launched in 2003 as an online community for people to advance career and job prospects

Twitter links to LinkedIn

Technology / Internet

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Twitter on Tuesday linked to LinkedIn, letting people share updates and tweets between the hot microblogging service and the career-oriented online social networking website.


Social networking meets ambient intelligence (w/ Video)

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sharing small snippets of information about your daily life is a key feature of the online social networking revolution. Soon status updates and other social information could be generated automatically.


Microsoft redesigns MSN, adds Twitter, Facebook

Technology / Internet

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. is giving its MSN Web portal a long-overdue makeover and says it hopes the new site will funnel more people to Bing, the software maker's search engine.