MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) – Microblogging site Twitter announced its planned Initial Public Offering in typical 140-characters it has been known for.

In a tweet from its official account posted after US markets closed on September 12 (around 5 am of September 13, Philippine time), Twitter said it has filed an S-1 form before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.

— Twitter (@twitter) September 12, 2013

A securities filing marked as a “confidential submission” is a hint that Twitter has an annual revenue of less than $1 billion.

The San Francisco company is taking advantage of a rule adopted in 2012 by the US SEC that allows “emerging growth” companies with revenues of less $1 billion turnover to keep financial details confidential until they get closer to the IPO.

A report from CNET added that a company spokesperson confirmed that Twitter has filed for an IPO.

Twitter’s public offering is likely to take place in early 2014, according to GigaOM site. It will be “among the most high profile IPO’s since Facebook went public in May of 2012,” it added.

Valuation

Talk of an IPO has circulated about Twitter for some time, and the Wall Street Journal estimated the company founded in 2006 is worth some $10 billion.

The fast-growing social network is expected to earn $582.8 million globally in ad revenue this year and nearly $1 billion next year, according to industry tracker eMarketer.

Twitter has become one of the fastest-growing and most influential social media services, used widely by celebrities, journalists, politicians and others.

The company said earlier this year it had “well over 200 million” active users, although some analysts say the figure is much higher.

Twitter this week said it was moving deeper into mobile advertising with the purchase of MoPub, a startup focusing on mobile ad exchanges.

The acquisition announced late Monday was estimated to be worth some $350 million, according to the technology news site TechCrunch.

An analysis by the website Statistic Brain says Twitter has some 554 million active, registered users and is adding 135,000 daily.

In a sign of the growing importance of Twitter, tweets have been analyzed to measure happiness of cities and countries, and some scholars claim Twitter was an important factor in uprisings such as the Arab Spring.

Twitter is used to measure the popularity of TV shows, and is used by some programs for instant feedback.

A year ago, chief executive Dick Costolo said the time was not ripe for a Twitter IPO but indicated Twitter would remain independent.

Some of the concerns over social media companies have faded with Facebook, whose shares lost 50 percent after its May 2012 IPO, hitting an all-time high in recent days.

Facebook shares debuted at $38, and languished for months before recovering this year. Facebook hit a record above $45 this week, and closed Thursday at $44.75. – Rappler.com and Agence France-Presse