Twitter is a real-time microblogging platform, publicly launched in July 2006. At launch, its defining features were the tight limits placed on each post, known at a tweet. Originally, users could only use 140 characters, although that has been elongated over the years.
Formed by former Odeo employees Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, the site originally used SMS to send tweets onto the network. It received its first boost of users at SXSW 2007, when the founders showed all the tweets hitting the network in real-time.
From there, Twitter grew out its userbase to reach over 300 million monthly active users. It added new features, but for the most part has retained the same look and feel of early Twitter, much to the chagrin of shareholders who wanted Twitter to be more competitive with Facebook.
Twitter has branched out into other areas of innovation, such as short-video with Vine or live-video with Periscope, but both were cancelled by the company. Some have argued that Twitter mismanaged both projects, as Vine came well before Music.ly and TikTok, but was unable to capture the market which was clearly there for the taking.
This may be partly due to the management of Twitter during that period, which included founder Jack Dorsey, then founder Evan Williams, then shortly after that Dick Costolo, followed by another Jack Dorsey turn. In the second round, Dorsey was also CEO at Block Inc (previously Square), which led to complaints from shareholders and even a lawsuit.
In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, after months of back and forth between the company and Musk haggling the price. Musk cut more than half of the staff count, opened up the verified platform to all members, as long as they paid a monthly subscription, and in 2023 changed the name of the company to X.
Musk has aims of making X a super-app, in the vein of WeChat in China. In this new app, users will have video and voice call options, messaging, mini-programs, and payment services. He has also unbanned a lot of banned for life accounts, such as Kanye West and ex-President Donald Trump.
The changes have spooked advertisers, which have left the platform en-masse causing a drop of more than 50 percent in advertising revenues. It has also brought about a whole host of Twitter-alternatives, which include Instagram’s Threads.
We have collected data and statistics on Twitter. Read on below to find out more.
Twitter key statistics
- Twitter generated $4.4 billion revenue in 2022, an 11% decline year-on-year
- 90% of Twitter’s revenue came from advertising in 2022
- Twitter has 540 million monthly active users, according to Elon Musk
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Social App Report 2023
Twitter overview
| Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|
| Launch date | 21 March 2006 |
| HQ | San Francisco, California |
| People | Elon Musk (CEO), Jack Dorsey (co-founder) |
| Business type | Private |
| Owner | Elon Musk |
| Industry | Social networking |
Twitter revenue
Twitter generated $4.4 billion revenue in 2022, a 11% decrease on 2021 figures. Revenue is expected to be worse in 2023 due to a loss of advertising revenue.
Twitter quarterly revenue 2012 to 2023 ($bn)
Twitter annual revenue 2012 to 2022 ($bn)
| Year | Revenue ($bn) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 0.3 |
| 2013 | 0.6 |
| 2014 | 1.4 |
| 2015 | 2.2 |
| 2016 | 2.5 |
| 2017 | 2.4 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 3.7 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 4.4 |
Source: Company data, The Information, Social App Report
Twitter revenue by segment
The vast majority of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising, although it did generate about $570 million from data licensing.
Twitter annual revenue by segment 2015 to 2022 ($bn)
| Year | Advertising | Data licensing & Other |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| 2016 | 2.2 | 0.2 |
| 2017 | 2.1 | 0.3 |
| 2018 | 2.6 | 0.4 |
| 2019 | 2.9 | 0.4 |
| 2020 | 3.2 | 0.5 |
| 2021 | 4.5 | 0.5 |
| 2022 | 4 | 0.4 |
Source: Company data
Twitter revenue by region
Even though only about 17% of Twitter’s users come from the US, it is responsible for more than 50% of the company’s revenues.
Twitter annual revenue by region 2018 to 2022 ($bn)
| Year | United States | Rest of World |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| 2019 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| 2020 | 2 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
| 2022 | 2.4 | 2 |
Source: Company data
Twitter profit
Twitter remained unprofitable for a second year in a row in 2021, but lowered its losses by 80% from the year prior.
Twitter annual net profit / loss 2012 to 2022 ($mm)
| Year | Net profit / loss ($mm) |
|---|---|
| 2012 | -79 |
| 2013 | -645 |
| 2014 | -577 |
| 2015 | -521 |
| 2016 | -456 |
| 2017 | -108 |
| 2018 | 1206 |
| 2019 | 1466 |
| 2020 | -1136 |
| 2021 | -221 |
Source: Company data, The Information,
Twitter users
Twitter had 368 million monthly active users in 2022. Elon Musk claimed user figures reached 540 million in Q2 2023.
Twitter annual users 2017 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 40 |
| 2011 | 85 |
| 2012 | 151 |
| 2013 | 218 |
| 2014 | 271 |
| 2015 | 304 |
| 2016 | 313 |
| 2017 | 310 |
| 2018 | 298 |
| 2019 | 312 |
| 2020 | 347 |
| 2021 | 362 |
| 2022 | 401 |
Source: Company data, eMarketer Social App Report
Twitter users by region
Twitter’s users in the United States have declined over the past two years, from 70 million to 63 million.
Twitter annual users by region 2017 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | United States | Rest of World |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 72 | 238 |
| 2018 | 66 | 232 |
| 2019 | 66 | 246 |
| 2020 | 70 | 277 |
| 2021 | 66 | 296 |
| 2022 | 63 | 305 |
Source: Company data
Twitter age demographics
Twitter has a near parity between the age brackets of 18 to 44 years old, with 35-44 the highest age bracket by a slight margin.
Twitter age demographics 2022 (%)
| Age bracket | Percentage of Users |
|---|---|
| 13-17 | 7.8 |
| 18-24 | 25.2 |
| 25-34 | 26.6 |
| 35-44 | 28.4 |
| 45+ | 12 |
Source: Hootsuite and We Are Social
Twitter gender demographics
Twitter has one of the highest gender disparities out of all social networks, with 68.5% of all users being male.
Twitter gender demographics 2022 (%)
| Gender | Percentage of users |
|---|---|
| Male | 56.4 |
| Female | 43.6 |
Source: Hootsuite and We Are Social
Most followed Twitter accounts
Ex-US President Barack Obama remains the most followed Twitter account. Elon Musk has seen his following increase dramatically over the past two years.
Most followed Twitter accounts 2022 (mm)
| Account | Followers (mm) |
|---|---|
| @barackobama | 131 |
| @justinbieber | 114 |
| @katyperry | 108 |
| @rihanna | 106 |
| @cristiano | 99 |
| @taylorswift13 | 90 |
| @ladygaga | 84 |
| @ElonMusk | 82 |
| @narendramodi | 78 |
| @theellenshow | 77 |
Note: As of June 2022. Source: Company data
Twitter vs competitors: users
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Twitter FAQ
When did Elon Musk buy Twitter?
Elon Musk bought Twitter on October 27 2022 for $44 billion
How many Americans use Twitter as a data source?
12 percent of Americans use it as a data source, according to Pew Research Center
How many brands use Twitter for marketing?
66 percent of brands with over 100 employees use Twitter for marketing purposes (eMarketer)
How much Twitter usage is mobile?
80% of Twitter usage happens on mobile devices (Google)
How many Twitter users in India?
There are 55 million Twitter users in India, according to App Annie
How much do the top 10% of Twitter users contribute?
In the US, top 10 percent of tweeters contribute 92 percent of tweets in 2020, up from 80 percent in 2018 (Pew Research Center)
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