Hurray! Twitter Is 10

Twitter entered the world ten years ago, on March 21st,
2006. Since then, it’s gone public and amassed over 300 million active users. This
morning it sent out a 140-character thank you note.

The two-and-a-half minute ad takes the form of a thank you
note penned to its users around the world, and it succinctly covers what makes
Twitter unique. Much of the spot focuses on Twitter’s utility as a breaking news
platform, with clips from events like 2011’s Arab Spring and the tsunami that
devastated Japan that same year. Social activism is also highlighted by
movements like #BringBackOurGirls, #blacklivesmatter, and #LoveWins. Of course,
there’s also a section dedicated to viral videos and GIFs that spread across
Twitter like wildfire.

Notably, the entire thank you note is squeezed into a
140-character tweet. The author even pushes past the limit intially, before
making an emoji tweak to fit into the character count. As Twitter’s witnessed
lots of change over the past ten years, the ad could be seen as a reaffirmation
of the company’s commitment to the character limit. Happy birthday Twitter.