Twitter Raises $100b to Install Gold-encrusted Toilet Bowls.

Just joking. Twitter announced that it's raising $100b USD to fund the next phase of its development. By all accounts, the micro-blogging platform has had an excellent year with massive growth in the months of April (+ 13 million uniques, ~70% m/m) and June (+ 7 million uniques, ~20% m/m).

An interesting detail is that news worthy events (often times violent or shocking) typically spur user signup and usage, as the application becomes a crucial source of real-time information sharing as events are unfolding. Twitter saw spikes in usage and signup following the tragic Delhi bombings in September of last year as well as the June elections in Iran. As more of the world's population comes online to use social media to share what's happening in their lives, it will change the way we experience events (both good or bad).