Happy Birthday Twitter! Yesterday marked the social networking Web site’s 5th anniversary. That’s right, it was only back in 2006 that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey purchased Simon Oxley’s stock art Twitterbird image and launched what would become a global network where celebrities bicker, athletes vent and revolutionaries band together.

At Cagle Cartoons, we’re big fans of Twitter (you can follow me @dcagle), so I thought we’d mark the occasion by presenting some of the best cartoons about twitter to come through our Web site.

John Cole’s cartoon of the iconic twitterbird showcases the importance of Twitter following the disputed Iranian presidential elections back in 2009. Twitter become Iran’s lifeline to the outside, a way for Iranians to tell the world what was happening on the streets of Tehran in real time, as well as communicate among themselves.

John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to share)

Twitter was instrumental in helping spread the footage of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who become iconic in the struggle of Iranian protesters against the disputed election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzimmons captures the symbol that Neda became for the Iranian people in his cartoon…

David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Daily Star (click to share)

John Cole captures the lighter side of Twitter, as journalists accustomed to daily deadlines have quickly had to adapt a changing world of instant news 140 characters at a time.

John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to share)

Recently, Twitter has helped organizers gather large crowds in the Middle East and overthrow dictators who held power for years. Dutch cartoonist Joep Bertrams captures this force in his cartoon…

Joep Bertrams / The Netherlands (click to share)

Meanwhile, Denver Post cartoonist Mike Keefe shows the implications of the growth of “social media” and Twitter…

Mike Keefe / Denver Post (click to share)

Keefe also sees Twitter as a de-evolution of human communication…

Mike Keeve / Denver Post (click to share)