It’s not every day you’re told to be kind and switch your phones on during a business meeting, but when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is in charge, that’s exactly what his team expects.
That was the first direction given to members of the National Society of Black Engineers during their convention at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Kansas City.
Dorsey sat among a panel of four women well-known for being Twitter influencers.
Today’s meeting took him back to the social media website’s early days when messages (or tweets) came in through texts and before Twitter handles and the word “tweet” existed.
“Twitter started as an idea from a failing company,” said Dorsey. “Everything you see on Twitter, even the word “tweet” came from people on Twitter.”
Now the website has millions of users. He says the key to that success is to be open while making information public and fast.
“When you have the question ‘what’s going on?’ Twitter is the first place you check,” said Dorsey.
Dorsey recalled an earthquake in San Francisco when he and his friends used the early version of Twitter to communicate what they felt.
“You didn’t feel like you were alone,” said Dorsey. “It felt like you were going through something with someone.”
Twitter Influencers #TweetsForChange
Dorsey admits the success of Twitter doesn’t come from its executives, but from its users saying, “we’re tool makers and the people define it.”
That’s where people like Angela Rye, Jamilah Lemieux, April Reign and Brittany Packnett come in. In just four days, they garnered 86 million impressions on Twitter, but they didn’t start out with thousands of followers or even verified accounts.
For Reign, it was a hashtag that thrust her into the national spotlight. She created the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag after noticing the 2015 Academy Award nominations lacked work from minorities.
“Category after category, name after name there weren’t any people of color,” said Reign. “The very first tweet was, ‘#OscarsSoWhite: they asked to touch my hair’ and it went viral."
Reign explains it was all jokes in the beginning, but the conversation pivoted and she didn’t shy away from the topic.
“It wasn’t until a couple days later that the conversation turned and we started having this conversation about issues of diversity and inclusion in film and entertainment,” said Reign. “Here we are two years later and I’m sitting with the CEO of Twitter.”
It’s conversations like that that Dorsey considers a powerful aspect of Twitter. When asked what he thought about Black Twitter, a term used to describe conversations driven by black people on the social media site, he says it’s inspiring.
“We’ve seen so many amazing communities, but Black Twitter has always been the most passionate,” said Dorsey. “The moments that inspire me are the moments where the tool is used to organize thought, to organize community, and to organize action.”
Twitter and News
Action is exactly what happened following the 2014 death of Michael Brown, Jr. at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. That news traveled worldwide on social media, even being the first place most people heard about it.
“I found out about Michael Brown Jr., not from the news because the news was not reporting it,” said Packnett, an educator and activist. “I found out from social media and I knew that Twitter and these other platforms would tell me the truth that other people wouldn’t.”
Packnett says that’s why people admire social media. When Fox News host Bill O’Reilly compared Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ hair to a James Brown wig (which he later apologized for), Packnett tweeted the hashtag #BlackWomenAtWork. It went viral with black women openly discussing what they go through in the workplace.
“Let’s not pretend like you don’t work with April (Ryan), Maxine and Bill and Sean (Spicer) every day,” said Packnett. “Let’s not pretend like you don't often sit silently or don’t even notice the microaggression or macroaggression that’s happening all around you.”
She says she wanted to help make the invisible visible, which is what Twitter allows people to do.
Rye, a CNN political commentator, challenged the crowd of engineers and college students.
“We’re all activist 24/7,” added Rye, a CNN political commentator. “But, Black Twitter shouldn’t just be about the conversation on the platform.”
Rye, recognizing the influence of Black Twitter said it shouldn’t just happen online, but companies like Twitter should return that support by putting some of its revenue into black-owned banks. Dorsey agreed.
Building A Brand
Not everyone would have the courage to call out a company with the CEO sitting with them, but many people call out companies all the time on social media.
A student at Purdue University asked how to “keep it real” and stay true to yourself while still maintaining your own brand or your company’s brand.
Lemieux, vice president of news and men’s programming for Interactive One, said the first question should be what you want your brand to be.
“There’s still a level to which we understand what our relationships to various brands as individuals are and how we can protect them without compromising our integrity,” Lemieux said.
Packnett added she remembers three key aspects: defining her brand herself, making sure it matches her values and making sure it matches her actions.
“There’s a whole lot of people talking about a whole lot of things who don’t do anything and we don’t have time for that,” Packnett said.
They also said to be mindful of what you say online and remember that employers do check social media pages.
Where Is Twitter Headed?
Dorsey made it clear that one of the main goals of Twitter is to reach as many people as possible and remain accessible.
“It’s like when you hear a siren out the window and you rush to the window to see what’s going on,” said Dorsey. “Twitter wants to be faster than you rushing to the window. We should be delivering a notification before you even get up off your couch.”
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