Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey asks Twitter for help with his two jobs
Jack Dorsey is one of the guys who founded Twitter. He's also the guy who cofounded payment company Square.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur is heralded as the product visionary for the two Silicon Valley startups, and he currently presides as CEO of both.
Clearly, Dorsey has a lot to juggle. So Thursday afternoon, he took to Twitter to ask for help in the footsteps of Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who did the same thing on Christmas Day:
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Twitter investors have watched the stock price languish and in the last two months witnessed a shrinking C-suite. Chief Operating Officer Adam Bain left the company in November, and Chief Technology Officer Adam Messinger and VP of Product Josh McFarland stepped down earlier this month.
And in what may just be coincidental timing, Dorsey's request follows a Wall Street Journal report headlined "Snap’s IPO Roadshow Message: We’re the Next Facebook, Not the Next Twitter." Twitter has long had a poor relationship with Wall Street. As the article noted, Twitter is trading 36 percent below its IPO price.
Snap is reportedly looking to compare its founder and CEO Evan Spiegel to the late Steve Jobs -- someone Dorsey has idolized and tried to mimic -- and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
So what does Twitter want out of Twitter?
Tweet editing
It's a running joke that to many users is a serious concern. Nearly every product announcement comes with a flood of tweets asking for tweet editing. Even Kim Kardashian and most recently NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have publicly requested such a feature from the CEO himself.
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He's listening about this one.
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Seriously.
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Channel / List view
Third-party app Tweetdeck and Twitter both allow users to create lists, but neither service is mobile friendly nor easy to use.
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Ban 'Nazis'
Twitter perhaps lost out on being acquired this year because it has a rampant abuse problem. It's one of the reasons people also attribute to its stagnant user growth. In the last year, Twitter has worked to more rapidly take down terrorist accounts and ban members.
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Better user interface for threads
While Twitter was once referred to as a microblogging site, it isn't just about sharing your own thoughts. It inspires a lot of back-and-forth conversation. Unfortunately, keeping up with that is messy.
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Subscribe to threads
Twitter has done a great deal of curation around live events and topics with Moments, some of which you can follow, but it doesn't allow you to subscribe to a conversation that isn't of Twitter's choosing.
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Save button
Once upon a time, the favorite button (stars) could be viewed as not only an approval tool but a bookmarking function. When Twitter changed it to likes (hearts), it messed with the connotation. Some third-party apps like Charm, created by a Twitter employee, provided this service.
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Public editor?
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Live stock chart
Finance Twitter is big. But if users want to know the stock price, investors will have to turn to another app like Google.
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Direct messaging
Group messaging or private messaging on Twitter is actually incredibly simple. But, to its detriment. It lets you do pretty much nothing besides send text, gifs and emojis. Compare that to Facebook Messenger and a zillion other messaging apps that have taken direct messaging to the next level.
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More listening from Dorsey
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And for Square?
Well turns out, people on Twitter just wanted to complain about the lack of tweet editing.
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But some Silicon Valley folks did have more to say about Square, although they were still taking Jack for a ride.
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Topics X/Twitter
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
