A big day in social media has today as Twitter turned five. Twitter for me in particular is been a very powerful social media platform, and one that has really provided me my entry point into the field of social media in general. I’ve personally had great fun using the service, meeting people on Twitter and discovering all kinds of interesting things with this platform. I’m also very appreciative of all that I have really learned as a result of using Twitter, both from the platform as well as from the user base.

While each social media platform has its own place and function, Twitter in particular has become the most “real time” of all the social media platforms in large part because of the massive stream of data consistently coming out of the platform.

Twitter has been very consistent in placing a focus on the product versus a monetization strategy. The result has been that over time they’ve developed a tremendously powerful and useful product that is loved by many. For those that actively participate in Twitter, real-time collaboration and the relationships discovered and nurtured have become irreplaceable.

Looking forward to seeing what the next few years will offer for Twitter in terms of functionality, usage, and adaptation. It has been very interesting to see other platforms building on top of Twitter and also to watch his other businesses incorporate some of the native Twitter functionality into their own platforms.

Twitter is fundamentally changing the way people communicate, and has really introduced the notion of real-time and to all of our lives at a level that never before existed. Happy birthday Twitter!

Also, just in case you missed it when we originally posted it, here are some Quick and Easy Tips to Optimize Your Twitter Profile.