When you first start using Twitter, it may seem daunting. But the truth is, whether you were among the first to join the social network or just now jumping on board, almost everyone starts as a Twitter newbie.
In March 2014, Twitter celebrated its eighth birthday by launching a tool that allows users to see their very first Tweets and even share their first Tweet with the trending hashtag #FirstTweet.
Here are some collected some first Tweets that may surprise you. If you're feeling at a loss while getting the hang of this Twitter thing, take a look at these popular Twitter users who started out just where you are in their Twitter lives — as Twitter dummies!
Ellen DeGeneres — comedian
As seen in her first Tweet, comedian Ellen DeGeneres hardly understood the lingo of Twitter when she first started. Flash forward to today: She has over 29 million followers and is famously known on Twitter for sharing the most popular image of the 2014 Oscars on Twitter, a selfie with 12 other celebrities in it.
Laura Fitton — Author of Twitter for Dummies
I fixed yellow highlight: Always use full numerals—not K for thousand. Also, the "K" is inconsistent, because the number of followers in the above Ellen DeGeneres text appears as 29 million—not 29M.
Laura Fitton once contemplated the value of Twitter. Laura has come a long way since her first Tweet. Not only does she have more than 134,000 followers, she also spearheaded writing Twitter For Dummies and often speaks about Twitter for marketing, including guest presentations at Harvard Business School.
Tyra Banks — model
Tyra Banks is known for her creativity. If you've watched any episode of her hit TV series, America's Next Top Model, you'll see how she channels her creativity into different photo shoots, model hairstyles, and the challenges she has contestants on her show go through. Yet when she first started on Twitter, she couldn't think of a single first Tweet.
Now she has over 11 million followers and has incorporated social media into her show, from fans sharing their thoughts on the models on social media to having a social media expert sit on the show's judges panel.
Dick Costolo — CEO, Twitter
Dick Costolo's first Tweet in 2007 was simple . . . it was simply his name. Despite his very simple introduction to the social network, three years later he became Twitter's chief executive officer!
Brittany Leaning — co-author, Twitter For Dummies
Man — Brittany's first impression is worse than Laura's! She wasn't even willing to give it a try — she was forced to by a professor. Since then, she's become a social media pro, previously running HubSpot's over 400,000 Twitter following and now co-authoring Twitter For Dummies. She's gone from knowing nothing about Twitter to knowing everything by jumping on, playing around, and experimenting.
As you can see from these five examples, Twitter was once foreign to many of today's top users. Even those who understood the concept still had to figure out what worked well for this new social environment. So start using Twitter, start sharing some content, and watch what happens. You'll learn as you go and figure out if it's the network for you.
