'I'm now a Twit': the eight best celebrity first tweets

Thanks, Obama.

Every year, like 140-character clockwork, Twitter users are treated to a Groundhog Day-esque moment as the service trots out founder Jack Dorsey’s seminal first tweet.
Say it with me now: “just setting up my twttr”.
To celebrate its eighth birthday, Twitter is offering each user a respite from @Jack, and the ability to go back in time and read their own first tweet. The tool is called Discover, and it is a goldmine. By midday Thursday, the #FirstTweet hashtag was showcasing the (ahem) skeptical, mundane or apparently completely accidental first messages of thousands. But obviously the real fun comes when you start plugging in the notable names of presidents, talk show hosts and comedians. Here are eight first tweets from people we all know, presented in no particular order:

Barack Obama

With his first tweet, then-senator Obama was several years early and many signatures away from ‘celebrating’ the end of the Iraq war. Wednesday was the 11th anniversary of the invasion. These days, Obama has moved on to more pressing issues, like telling House of Cards fans not to tweet any spoilers.

Thinking we're only one signature away from ending the war in Iraq. Learn more at http://www.barackobama.com
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 29, 2007

Piers Morgan

Presented as-is. Also, not his best work.

BREAKING NEWS: I'm now a Twit. Official.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 30, 2010

Conan O’Brien

O’Brien was nearing the height of his popularity when he signed up for Twitter. This was shortly after his final episode of the Tonight Show, and served as a highly professional first public statement after his ouster by NBC execs. Team Coco 4 Lyfe.

Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me.
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) February 24, 2010

Ashton Kutcher and Larry King

For some reason, these two were the talk of Twitter in 2009, and had a highly publicized race to 1m followers. (Ashton won.) Many viewed this race as a turning point for the ‘microblog’ network. Ah, the olden days.

dropping my first tweet
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) January 16, 2009

Baseball is back so the world is good again. I love all sports, but baseball is still our only national pass time.
— Larry King (@kingsthings) April 6, 2009

OPRAH COMES ON STRONG WITH THE CAPS LOCK

You get a Twitter and YOU get a Twitter and YOU GET A TWITTER!!!!!!!! If her OWN network doesn’t work out, Oprah has a definite future in social media.

HI TWITTERS . THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY .
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) April 17, 2009

(Bonus CAPS lock tweet: Diddy)

That Diddy. So mysterious!

GETTING READY TO SHOOT MORE CSI
— Diddy (@iamdiddy) December 18, 2008

Stephen Fry

We can all agree that Stephen Fry’s first tweet was probably not his best. His best work was pioneering the art of rant-tweeting while stuck in a lift in 2009.

Hello Twitterers. I'm About to fly to Africa for a new project and will be tweeting whilst I'm filming.
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) October 9, 2008

And, last but not least, the most Guardian first tweet ever

Or so we’ve heard.

is northern line working? or do i use my davos snow grips (never used?)
— alan rusbridger (@arusbridger) February 2, 2009