In honour of Twitter’s 10th birthday, We Are Social teams across the globe have turned today into a full-on #throwback celebration worthy of its very own microsite happybirdday.wearesocial.com. We invite you to join our flock in extending the celebration all week by sharing and discussing the content with the hashtag #HappyBirdDay!
With moments ranging from #BringBackOurGirls and Peace for Paris, to ‘God’s’ first tweet and Miley Cyrus’s ‘free the nipple’ post, there truly is something in there for everyone. Spoiler alert: you’ll also see some of our agency’s own history – the first Tweets from our co-founders and the agency itself. #humblebrag
The site will be chirping for the rest of 2016 and updated with whatever significant stories and crazy characters unfold over the next nine months. We see you, @realDonaldTrump.
Our very own Managing Director, Suzie Shaw, shared a few words to celebrate the groundbreaking social channel: “Twitter has enabled everyone with access to the internet to break a story to the rest of the world. I love Twitter, and I’m delighted to be celebrating its birthday with what we think are 100 of the best Twitter stories of the past decade. And we’re looking forward to seeing what the next ten years have in store, for both Twitter and the wider social media landscape.”
Sharing Suzie’s sentiment, the We Are Social Sydney office reminisced on our favourite moments from the last ten years. Have a read and Tweet your own favourite to us @wearesocialau.
1) Kanye vs. Facebook, Cristina Forlani, @crifor
No discussion of Twitter is complete without mention of the self-appointed and self-congratulatory king of Twitter, Kanye West. It’s hard to pick just one, but if we had to…
Mark Zuckerberg I know it’s your bday but can you please call me by 2mrw…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/699106758816632832
2) Obama + America, Cat May, @catherineelaine
Social media, and Twitter in particular, is now part and parcel of political office. All political leaders now have a Twitter account, but few have been able to match Obama’s presence. He’s fun, relevant, political and, at times, beautifully sentimental…
Four more years. pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2012
Much like our good friend Cat May:
Four more years. #VisaApproved pic.twitter.com/zW8HxfpfIp
— Cat May (@catherineelaine) October 7, 2015
3) Lee Lin Chin + Politics, Liam Cross, @liam_cross
Is it sad that my happy place is sitting on Twitter during a leadership spill? No? Good, because that’s it. The memes, the sledging, the backstabbing and of course, Lee Lin Chin.
I FEEL SO SORRY FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN’T AUSTRALIAN AND DON’T KNOW THE EXCITEMENT THAT IS REGULAR LEADERSHIP SPILLS!
We ARE the lucky country!
— Angela Mary Claire (@AngeMaryClaire) September 14, 2015
What does it say about the state of politics in this country when I’m trending during #libspill? That I’m amazing obviously #LeeLinforPM
— Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChinSBS) September 14, 2015
4) Malcolm Turnbull vs. House of Cards, Max Mills, @maxantonymills
“My favourite moment from the last decade of Twitter is from this morning.” Malcolm Turnbull kicked today off by announcing that he would call for a double dissolution if the Industrial Relations Bills don’t pass when Parliament sits again in April. Frank Underwood (from Netflix’s House of Cards) found the move inspiring.
.@TurnbullMalcolm I admire your methodology, Prime Minister. If you don’t like how the table is set, turn over the table.
— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) March 21, 2016
And it’s not the first time TV’s favourite president has reached out to our PM. Back in September 2015, Underwood extended an invitation to Turnbull after a rowing machine comparison was made on morning television.
@TurnbullMalcolm feel free to stop by any time. pic.twitter.com/2FnGZSeeAL
— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) September 21, 2015
5) Arby’s vs. Pharrell, Amaury Treguer, @amaurytreguer
Arby’s in America breaks all the rules and regularly plays with their food, but this Tweet about Pharrell’s hat at the 2014 Grammys takes the cake (or the curly fries).
Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs
— Arby’s (@Arbys) January 27, 2014
6) Emma Watson + Tom Hanks, Melody Achi, @melodyachi
“My favourite thing about Twitter is Emma Watson.” The He For She campaign embraced clicktivism by asking for just that – a click. Fronted by Emma Watson, the campaign absolutely blew up on social and cemented Emma’s place as one of the greatest humans on Earth. This cover with Tom Hanks is particularly ~magical~.
So excited to reveal the cover of @esquireuk‘s Women & Men issue! Featuring @tomhanks and me! pic.twitter.com/XdA3lCvXMI
— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) March 2, 2016
7) Marshawn Lynch vs. the world, Michele Danno, @michele_danno
What better way to retire than with a one-character “peace out” Tweet? US footballer and notorious NFL bad boy Marshawn Lynch didn’t seem to think twice about ending his highly-touted career any other way. He had the undivided attention of the mainstream media and a full 140-characters to fill, but proved emojis are worth 1,000 words…
— Shawn Lynch (@MoneyLynch) February 8, 2016
8) Batman vs. Superman, Christopher Moriarty, @darthshatner
That being said, it would be remiss of us to talk about the last ten years without mentioning the birth of emojis. Evolving from 🙂 to ? and even all the way to Kim-mojis, emojis of all kinds have basically replaced real emotions as an effective means of communication. The introduction of custom emojis has breathed new life into hashtags and are an instant reward for #GettingInvolved.
9) Oscars’ Selfie, Dominic Carrico, @dominiccarrico
You know you’re doing well when your engagements are so high that the numbers bleed into each other. Thanks to Ellen Degeneres, ‘Oscars Selfie’ is now a universally recognised photography technique – one that is recreated every time more than three people find themselves in the same room together.
If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscarspic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014
10) Brand vs. Brand, Jack Breen, @jackjbreen
And where would be (seriously, where would we be?) without brands on Twitter? The space has become a perfectly-acceptable boxing ring for brands to hurl passive aggressive comments back and forth, garnering a lot of attention with little risk of serious backlash. Today in the ring, we resurrect the Old Spice vs. Taco Bell food feud. Enjoy!
@TacoBell Depends. Do you consider volcanos, tanks and freedom to be spices?
— Old Spice (@OldSpice) July 9, 2012
And a little bonus in anticipation a great 11th year…
11) UK + US, Suzie Shaw, @suzsha
Who can forget this most meme-able moment courtesy of David Cameron? It epitomises why Twitter is awesome – there are often important global news stories unfolding here, but they can just as easily turn into trivial memes for the world to enjoy.
I’ve been speaking to @BarackObama about the situation in Ukraine. We are united in condemnation of Russia’s actions. pic.twitter.com/7Rk2k8iOIK
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 5, 2014
Let the meme madness ensue:
@David_Cameron @SirPatStew @robdelaney @David_Cameron sorry fellahs, I had the squits but I’m in my hotel now pic.twitter.com/q5v33Nd78J
— Brendon Burns (@brendonburns) March 8, 2014
@David_Cameron @BarackObama Hello, we #meerkats are on the line now too.Please speak in simples terms. pic.twitter.com/LejsFN12He
— Thabo Meerkat (@ThaboMeerkat) March 6, 2014
.@David_Cameron pic.twitter.com/YJvCN0uaDq
— zeppo wilbury (@ZeppoWilbury) September 20, 2015
So #HappyBirdDay, Twitter. Congratulations on a decade’s worth of cultural moments and milestones, and (a begrudging) thank you for forcing us to get creative and squeeze those gems of wisdom into 140 characters.
As @suzsha said, here’s to ten more years.