Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to post short messages called tweets. It was launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and now has over 500 million active users who generate over 340 million tweets daily. Tweets are used for conversations, sharing information and reporting news. Journalists are increasingly using Twitter to engage audiences and share news in real-time. While Twitter is still a small source of news for most, a single retweet can expose a message to millions of people based on the network of followers. As Twitter continues to grow, it is changing how breaking news and information spreads online.