How many users did Twitter have in 2016?

This will be today’s topic of discussion for this article. It’s not only imperative to know Twitter’s current status in the world, but where it’s been to measure its growth over the years. 

While Twitter was originally started as a podcasting venture called Odeo, it took a turn towards its now, microblogging social media platform by 2009, which is when its rise to fame and popularity began. 

There is plenty of data and Twitter statistics online. We will make this article brief, but also informative about Twitter in 2016.

How Many Users Did Twitter Have in 2016? 

The number of monthly active users (MAUs) on Twitter in 2016 was 318 million.

When you compare this data with that of prior years, 2010 to 2015, you will see the growth, as you will when you compare it to figures from after 2016, 2017 to 2021. 

Twitter went from 54 million users in 2010 to 318 by 2016. After 2016, Twitter’s growth went from 318 to nearly 397 million MAUs.

Twitter’s metrics for calculating its user base figures come from the advertising reach that are reported via its self-service ad tools. 

After 2019, Twitter quit reporting monthly active users, so figures represent its total users.

Now you know the answer to the question of how many users did Twitter have in 2016. 

What Happened in The Twitter Company in 2016?

In order to truly address answering the question, “how many users did Twitter have in 2016”, we need to know what was going on within the company at that time.

The year 2016 was somewhat significant to Twitter Inc. March 2016 is when the most substantial change occurred on the platform.

The chronological timeline was replaced by one based on algorithms where the popular tweets would appear first. 

Popular tweets are those that are liked by the most people. This major change in the timeline was highly controversial among its users.

The company said they made the change to help people engage and tweet more, but it was criticized for creating biases on the platform in terms of information exchanges. 

It wasn’t until the final quarter of 2017 that Twitter actually became profitable and reported 330 million active monthly users. 

Interestingly enough, Jack Dorsey had returned to Twitter as its CEO in October 2015, before the major changes were made to the platform’s timeline.

You may or may not recall that Twitter bought Vine in October 2012 when they released it as a separate app in January 2013.

While it was quite successful over its lifespan, Twitter closed Vine down in 2016. 

What Was Twitter’s Revenue in 2016?

Another important aspect that is directly related to answering, how many users did Twitter have in 2016, is its revenue in that year.

In 2016, Twitter’s total annual revenue accounted for $2.53 billion. Twitter’s quarterly revenues in 2016 were $595 million.

Today, with a 15.93% growth since 2016, in 2022, Twitter has revenues of $1.201 billion quarterly towards an estimated $5.242 billion annually.

How Does Twitter Make Money? 

Twitter has two categories into which it divides its revenues. One is from advertising sales, which is its main source of revenue. 

The other is connected with data licensing and additional services offered.

TweetDeck is a tool on Twitter that gives you the power to personalize and create content on Twitter to enhance your experience as well as your audience’s experience if you are a brand, business, or marketer. 

This interface is free and accessible to anyone with a Twitter account. It doesn’t add revenue to the company, but it does enhance the Twitter experience. 

Twitter Blue, on the other hand, is a subscription-based service that is designed for users who want to have control of their account to customize it for their own purposes. 

This includes another feature called Twitter Labs, which also provides ways to manage your Twitter account.

Since Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk, there is much speculation about the changes that will be made to the platform. 

That said, it’s unlikely that these features will fade away, though they may be improved in the coming months and years. 

Conclusion

So, how many users did Twitter have in 2016? You know from the data we shared that Twitter had 318 million active monthly users that year.

Today, Twitter has around 397 million users, which shows growth.

You know Twitter’s 2016 revenue compared to its current revenue, how it makes money, and some of the features Twitter offers its users for free and via paid subscriptions.

Whether you’re a traditional Twitter user or a brand, business, or marketer, this data is useful and interesting. 

How do you use Twitter? What do you think the coming years have in store for the platform? 

Sources