Social media network Twitter celebrates its seventh birthday this year, with 1.2 billion accounts and 200 million active users.

Since its birth, on 21 March 2006, Twitter rapidly became one of the most popular forms of social media, and could be nesting a healthy $950 million in ad revenue by next year, according to forecasts.

Taking a look at how Twitter has evolved and grown, Simon Leps, CEO of Fontera Digital Works, says seven years might not be a significant figure in itself, but does speak for longevity.

“Most start-ups don’t even make it past the two-year mark – no matter the seventh. But Twitter has been a new media phenomenon with over 300 million active daily users, making it not only one of the biggest platforms in the world, but also part of everyone’s lives.”

Leps says Twitter has given users a new way to communicate with each other. “It has allowed us to broadcast messages and gain followers in a new way. It’s changed the way we promote ourselves, entertain our friends/followers. And it’s not just on a personal level, it has also changed the way companies communicate and market themselves. It’s made feedback from customers much faster and, in return, has made brands and companies more responsive to their customers’ concerns and complaints,” adds Leps.

Twitter’s success lies in its ability to keep on evolving. “All the Twitter plug-ins – like Tweetdeck, Twitpic and so on – have expanded the user base exponentially. Vine moved Twitter onto video so you never know what’s coming next,” says Leps.Leps believes Twitter is not about to reach a plateau anytime soon. “With hugely talented founders and being a private company (no analysts to beholden to) there is no limit to what they can do with the service and will continue to improve it all the time.”

Predicting what Twitter will do in the next few years seems to be daunting task, taking into account how swiftly the interest of the digital consumer changes. “As long as Twitter stays relevant and continues to grow, I can’t see a huge drop-off in user numbers in the next 12 months at least,” explains Leps.

Like fellow social network Facebook, Twitter has allowed consumers to not only share their thoughts, but also their opinions on products or services. This, according to Leps, will help Twitter to further endure.

“There is a link to Tweet on just about every other consumer site on the Web, so it will be a while before they stop being relevant. Also, with all the high-profile celebrities and others Tweeting about their activities and having Twitter arguments, it should keep the rest of us interested for a while.

“I see Twitter use in SA growing quite fast due to the vast range of affordable smartphones available on the market, which will allow more South Africans a way to access Twitter more easily,” says Leps.