Twitter came into being in 2006. The idea behind twitter was to develop a platform where people can share their daily routine and updates with their friends using SMS based communication. The co-founder of twitter Jack Dorsey (follow) proposed his idea to the co-founder of Odeo, Evan Williams(follow). Evan and his co-founder Biz Stone(follow) gave Jack a green signal on his idea to proceed.
140 Character Limit:
I have read questions of people asking about why twitter has 140 character limit? The answer is simple; because the idea behind twitter was an SMS based platform and micro-blogging. That’s why to fit the content and updates within SMS limit twitter has 140 character limit. Days are gone when people read whole news and other stuff, now people read the starting paragraphs of the stuff from where they get the idea whether the news or content is worth reading or not. That;s why twitter has 140 character limit.
Now coming to the topic “How Twitter Makes Million” without any advertising? Let us have a quick review of Twitter history. After its launch in 2006 the main focus of Twitter’s developers was to make a strong identity as a micro-blogging site. During this period the number of users of Twitter grew and grew, and it faced problems like outraging so developers also focused on basic structure of site.
Until 2010 when journalist asked Jack Doris (Jack Dorsey) , one of the founders of the company and was chairman , how the company would make profit? He did not have any satisfying answer on the other hand he also assured it that Twitter would not display any ads.
When Twitter came up with the unique idea of micro-blogging which was not common then and make its unique identity, then the investors started showing interest in Twitter. In the first year $ 5 million were invested in Twitter , then $ 22 million, $ 35 million , while $ 200 million in 2010. In this way the total value of the company reached $ 3.7 billion which was a result of selling its 35% of its share in its stock market. In 2011 the company total value was $ 7.8 billion. In the same year Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal invested $ 300 million in Twitter.
Although the company had no clear plans regarding sources of income , but in early 2009 it received its initial income when it made an agreement with Google and Microsoft for providing its search result sand in this way Google paid $ 10 million and Microsoft paid $ 15 million, while the number of users had reached 25 million.
Twitter advertises in some different manner from other websites.
Promoted Tweets:
Promoted tweets are just like ordinary tweets but they are purchased by advertisers. The advertisers can reach more followers through promoted tweets. This is a tweet from my Twitter account .As you can see above that promoted tweets are marked as “Promoted by ” and you can also dismiss this. The tweet once showed is never re-showed. Tweets are based on what you follow and what is trending.
Promoted tweets are generally shown in search result on top and some time on user’s home timelines.
Promoted Accounts:
On left hand side of Twitter dashboard under Who to follow you can see promoted accounts. Promoted accounts are displayed according to the interest of the person and trendings. If you are following some brands or people on Twitter then Twitter algorithm will display the Who to follow results based on your taste. The promoted accounts are marked with a yellow mark showing that it is a promoted account.
Promoted Trends:
Promoted trends are just like modified “promoted trends”. Promoted trends also play vital role in twitter along with promoted tweets and promoted accounts. A promoted trend work in a way just like other trends. But the hash tag of promoted trends are placed on top of the hash tag list and when a user click on that hash tag the user get the tweet of that company on top of the tweets. According to a report published by Mashable, Twitter Now Charges $200,000 For Promoted Trends.