Linda Yaccarino, the recent appointee as the head of Twitter, has shared her strategies for “Twitter 2.0”, succeeding Elon Musk just a week prior.
She asserts that the firm is “on a mission to become the world’s most accurate real-time information source”.
Twitter, under the ownership of Mr Musk since last year, has been subjected to critiques for its handling of disinformation.
In the previous month, the organization saw the departure of its trust and safety lead and withdrew from the EU’s disinformation protocol.
Through a series of tweets, also disseminated to staff, Ms Yaccarino resonated with Musk’s objective of transforming Twitter into the “global town square”.
She stated that this would aid to “drive civilisation forward through the unfiltered exchange of information and open dialogue about the things that matter most to us.”
“Users need to know that the town square is not biased,” was a comment made by Ray Wang, the CEO of Constellation, a research company based in Silicon Valley, to the BBC.
Musk, who labels himself a “free speech absolutist”, has shown disapproval of Twitter’s content moderation policies, suggesting it should genuinely promote free speech.
However, his steps to restore right-leaning accounts, whose viewpoints align with his, and slacken moderation have repelled advertisers. In December, there was a reported 40% decrease in revenue compared to the same period the previous year.
To attract advertisers again, they need clarity regarding user content and interaction, Mr Wang pointed out.
“She is definitely someone who can balance out Elon and go toe-to-toe with him as he respects her,” he added.
Mr Musk, who acquired Twitter last year at a price of $44bn (£35.1bn), faced mounting pressure to locate a suitable leader for the firm, allowing him to concentrate on his other ventures, such as electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and rocket company SpaceX.
On May 12, Musk, who recently reclaimed the position of the world’s wealthiest individual, announced Ms Yaccarino would take over as Twitter’s CEO in six weeks.
However, she stepped into the role sooner than anticipated, shortly after the company’s head of trust and safety resigned.
Ms Yaccarino’s contributions have been recognized in successfully navigating media giant NBCUniversal amidst industry disruptions due to evolving technology.
In her previous capacity, she restructured the firm’s ad sales operations and played a significant role in the 2020 unveiling of its ad-supported streaming service, Peacock.
Currently, she manages business operations at Twitter, which has been grappling with profitability, while Musk retains his roles as executive chairman and chief technology officer of the company.
Daniel Ives from Wedbush Securities stated, “We believe Linda has a solid vision for Twitter with a lot of wood to chop that can be turned around.”
“This is a great first step and she knows the task ahead for Twitter to monetise the platform which remains the golden goose.”
