US technology firm Twitter has announced in a tweet, that it has submitted papers for an Initial Public Offering, the most hotly anticipated in the tech circles, since social network company Facebook did it last year.
"We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale," the company tweeted yesterday.
Talk of an initial public offering (IPO) has circulated about Twitter for some time, and the Wall Street Journal estimated the company founded in 2006 is worth some USD 10 billion.
Twitter, a popular micro-blogging site has become one of the fastest-growing and most influential social media services, used widely by celebrities, journalists, politicians, among others.
The San Francisco-based company said earlier this year it had "well over 200 million" active users, although some analysts say the figure is much higher.
The fast-growing social network is expected to earn USD 582.8 million globally in ad revenue this year and nearly USD 1 billion next year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.
The San Francisco company is taking advantage of a rule adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission which allows "emerging growth" companies with revenues of less than one billion to keep financial details confidential until they get closer to the IPO.
An analysis by the website Statistic Brain says Twitter has some 554 million active, registered users and is adding 135,000 daily.
In a sign of the growing importance of the popular micro-blogging site, tweets have been analysed to measure happiness of cities and countries, and some scholars claim Twitter was an important factor in uprisings such as the Arab Spring.
Tweets are used to measure the popularity of TV shows, and is used by some programs for instant feedback.
A year ago, chief executive Dick Costolo said the time was not ripe for a Twitter IPO but indicated Twitter would remain independent.
Twitter came to life on March 21, 2006 when co-founder Jack Dorsey's account (@jack) automatically sent out the first tweet, which read: "just setting up my twttr."
Dorsey followed it up with the first "human-generated" tweet: "inviting coworkers".
