Twitter may have millions of subscribers spanning the entire world today, but it was a very different scenario when founder Jack Dorsey published the first message on the microblogging platform. Now, that post may be sold for nearly Rs 2 crore.
On Saturday the Twitter CEO shared the link to an auction for the now historic (albeit oddly spelt) tweet on Cent's Valuables platform. For the unitiated, this is a platform that lets you buy and sell tweets autographed by their creators.
Hours after Dorsey shared the link to his "just setting up my twttr" post, bidding has now gone up to $267000. And if you're thus inclined, you too could bid to own Jack Dorsey's first tweet. It might not have the word Twitter spelt as we now know it, but it is certainly one of a kind.
While a large part of Twitter is flabbergasted by the concept of buying and selling tweets, others are wondering what one would do with a purchased tweet. "How does it work if I buy this tweet!? How can I own it?" one user wanted to know.
The Valuables website offers more insight into this. In a section marked as "how does this work", the site explains that the creator of the post decides to "mint it on the blockchain, creating a 1-of-1 autographed version". Offers and counter offers can then be made, with the tweet owner earning Ethereum (a cryptocurrency). As per their FAQs, 95% goes to the original tweet creator while 5% goes into running Valuables.
Dorsey's post has also inspired a slew of jokes and follow-up remarks about the concept of selling tweets.
"All of my tweets are for sale too, by the way," remarked one user.
