Quiz on Twitter

On March 21, 2006, Twitter was founded. Here are 10 very short questions about the social media site.

Twitter talk

1 Which mammal would originally appear along with a few birds in the early years of Twitter if the site was malfunctioning?

2 The Twitter bird was redesigned in 2009 by Biz Stone and designer Philip Pascuzzo. Which American sporting superstar was it named after?

3 This Indian is followed by over 39 million people on Twitter. The last three words of his five-word Twitter bio are “artist, painter, humanitarian”. Give the first two words, possibly more descriptive, and, for good measure, name the Indian.

4 The record for the most number of tweets per second was most recently set when the Japanese film Castle In the Sky was screened on television. Which superstar’s unfortunate demise in 2009 set the previous record for the number of tweets within a specific time?

5 What did Twitter start in June 2009 after being criticised by Kanye West and sued by baseball administrator Tony La Russa?

6 In 2019, the most retweeted Indian message was from PM Narendra Modi after he was re-elected in May. Which sportsperson’s message was the most retweeted Indian tweet in 2018?

7 If #LokSabhaElections2019 was the most tweeted about hashtag in 2019 in India, which was the second, followed very closely, in the first week of September 2019?

8 Which American celebrity’s twitter bio reads “Actor, Producer, Running in movies since 1981”?

9 In January 2020, by offering prizes of a million yen to 1,000 randomly selected people, what did Japanese billionaire Yusaka Maezawa achieve?

10 In 2009, Ashton Kutcher’s became the first Twitter account to have more than a million followers. Which organisation’s account, which was just 1,200 followers short of Kutcher’s, did he beat to the second place?

Answers

1 A beluga whale. The fail whale was withdrawn a few years ago.

2 Larry the Bird, named after NBA star Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics

3 Film actor; Salman Khan

4 Michael Jackson

5 The Twitter blue tick for verified accounts

6 Sunil Chhetri, then Indian captain, requesting fans to fill the stadiums for the Intercontinental Cup. He got a lot of support and retweets from Virat Kohli and other Indian cricketers

7 #Chandrayaan2

8 Tom Cruise. The last line is a giveaway!

9 The most ever retweets for a Twitter message, more than four million and counting. Interestingly, his handle is @yousuck2020

10 CNN

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster;

Twitter: @joybhattacharj