Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Quote Roundup: Groundbreaking Tweets from Twitter's First Five Years

    By Jennifer LeMaire | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Thu, Jul 14, 2011
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    Light the candles, Twitter is turning 5! In celebration, the social media giant has launched a new website and YouTube video featuring 16 Twitter users talking about how tweets have enriched their lives. With the reigning king of all social media set to celebrate its fifth anniversary of going public Friday, here is a look back at some groundbreaking tweets from the last five years.

    "just setting up my twttr"

    --@jack, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, March 21, 2006

    This was the tweet that started it all and paved the way for Twitter's explosive worldwide growth. Today the social networking and microblogging giant logs nearly 200 million tweets a day.

    "Victory is ours!!!!!!!!"

    --@aplusk, Ashton Kutcher, April 16, 2009

    Kutcher, an early champion of Twitter, challenged CNN in a race to be the first to reach 1 million followers, according to Tech Tree. His victory marked a turning point in media and news distribution. Kutcher showed that through Twitter a single voice could reach as many people in real time as a major news network and that social media could be used as a powerful tool to mobilize millions.

    "HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY."

    --@Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, April 17, 2009

    Oprah's first tweet, made during her show, introduced Twitter to mainstream America. The Oprah effect spiked Twitter traffic by 43 percent and made it OK for middle America to tweet, reports PCMag. The attraction of Twitter is that unlike other social media, it allows people to engage directly with public figures, even Oprah.

    "We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks."

    --@BarackObama, Barack Obama's campaign staff, Nov. 5, 2008

    This announcement of thanks following the election of America's first black president also heralded a change in the face of American politics.

    "Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station '" the 1st live tweet from Space! : ) More soon, send your ?s"

    --@Astro_TJ, astronaut Timothy Creamer, Jan. 22, 2010

    Tweeting is not easy when you are traveling 17,300 mph some 250 miles above the earth.This first live tweet from space showcased impressive new software innovations aboard the International Space Station. Real time tweets from space could open up a whole new world for NASA and play an integral part in 21st century space exploration.

    "Library to acquire ENTIRE Twitter archive -- ALL public tweets, ever, since March 2006! Details to follow."

    --@librarycongress, Library of Congress, April 14, 2010

    News that the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, would digitally archive every public tweet since the first in March 2006 showcases the historical significance of Twitter. In fact, tweets don't just report history; sometimes they make it.

    "BREAKING: 1st Twitter @townhall w/ Pres Obama at the WH on 7/6 @ 2ET. #AskObama your Qs on the economy & jobs: asobama.twitter.com"

    --@whitehouse, The White House, July 5, 2011

    News that President Obama would hold the first ever live town hall via Twitter certainly had tongues wagging. The president went live at 2 p.m. ET on July 6, answering questions submitted by ordinary Americans, reports Web Pro News. Obama's town hall illustrates the growing importance of Twitter as a political tool. Twitter is even expected to play a prominent role in the 2012 presidential election.

    "I just watched a plane crash into the hudson rive in manhattan".

    --@highfours, Jim Hanrahan, January 15, 2009

    As Jim Hanrahan sent the first tweet about U.S Airways flight 1549 crashing into the Hudson River in New York City, he became one of a growing number of citizen reporters breaking raw news in real time through Twitter. Twitter has scooped the mainstream media many times: the Continental Airlines 737 crash in Denver, Colorado; the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in China in 2008; the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India; and the fight for independence in Cairo, Egypt.

    "Dear Friends, I just launched http://t.co/fVHpS9y Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI"

    -- @vaticannews, Vatican News ( Pope Benedict XVI) , June 28, 2011

    The Vatican is surprisingly tech-savvy, but not so the pope. When Benedict actually tweeted himself via an iPad, Catholics around the world felt a seismic shift. It's hard to get a higher endorsement than the pope.

    "Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it."

    --@ReallyVirtual, Sohaib Athar, May 1, 2011

    Abbottbad resident Athar originally tweeted about a helicopter crash near his home, according to Mashable. Without knowing it, he had tweeted part of the raid that led to Osama bin Laden's death. Twitter has changed the way the public receives news and the nature of how news is broken. It gives us the ability to get raw news firsthand without any filters.

     

    There are no comments yet

    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...

    US News »

    • Astronauts float inside SpaceX Dragon capsule Irene Klotz
      The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral

      CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch and floated inside a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon capsule on Saturday, the first privately owned spaceship to reach the orbital outpost, NASA said. Running ahead of schedule, station commander Oleg Kononenko …

    • Biden tells West Point cadets: prepare for new threats Laura MacInnis

      WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of the cadets who graduated on Saturday from West Point were in elementary school when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and enrolled in the U.S. military academy with wars raging in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden lauded the brave choices …

    • No need to wait for November to know election outcome Kathy Finn

      NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Many folks may fret themselves into a frenzy over the November U.S. elections and whether the world will come to an end on December 21, but for about 1,500 people gathered in New Orleans for the United Astrologers Conference, all will be revealed this week. "Some of the world's top astrologers are …

    • Bud dumps heavy rain on Mexico's Pacific coast
      Hurricane Bud appoaches landfall in Mexico

      MANZANILLO, Mexico (Reuters) - The remnants of the first hurricane of the 2012 season, Bud, dumped heavy rain along Mexico's coast early on Saturday but caused little damage before it turned back into the Pacific. The storm, which on Friday had threatened to hit land with hurricane-force winds, lost strength as it neared …

    • Subtropical Storm Beryl swirls toward U.S. southeast coast

      MIAMI (Reuters) - Subtropical Storm Beryl churned toward the U.S. southeast coast on Saturday, threatening heavy rains and dangerous surf on Sunday to northeastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Beryl was centered about 230 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, …

     
    One money saving tip you probably haven't tried
    Add your ideas and help make it happen. Join the conversation.
    Episode 11: Hard times for Hometown Hardware
    Should Bill and Donna take on more risk to boost their business?
    One small business owner surprises Bill and Donna
    How Josh's comment on a Remake America video laid the groundwork for something bigger.
    Learn more about Remake America »