The Nation Newspaper

Tag: twitter

  • Twitter to lay off 9% of staff

    Twitter to lay off 9% of staff

    • As sale process appears to have come to nothing

    The layoffs are expected to impact about 350 employees across sales, partnerships and marketing efforts, according to the company. The goal is to push Twitter toward profitability as an independent company.

    This is contained in the company’s third-quarter letter to shareholders on Thursday, saying: “The restructuring allows us to continue to fully fund our highest priorities while eliminating investment in non-core areas and driving greater efficiency.”

    According to the CNN, Disney, Google and Salesforce were all said to be interested in bidding for the social network, but ultimately backed off. Only Salesforce admitted as much publicly.

    “It wasn’t the right fit for us,” Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, said earlier this month.

    On a conference call with analysts after the earnings release, Twitter CEO and co-founder, Jack Dorsey said his only comment on the acquisition rumours is “our board is committed to maximising long-term shareholder value.”

    “We’re taking the necessary steps to ensure Twitter is well positioned for long-term growth,” Dorsey added.

    In the absence of a takeover in the near term and any significant signs of growth, Twitter must push for a turnaround as an independent company. Its first big step is to improve its bottom line through cuts.

    Dorsey took over as Twitter’s permanent CEO a year ago and presided over an earlier round of layoffs that reduced staff by 8%.

    He has since focused on growing Twitter through live video streaming and making it easier for users to discover relevant tweets in their news feeds, with limited results.

    Twitter’s monthly active user count, easily the company’s most scrutinised number, beat estimates by rising to 317 million in the September quarter from 313 million the previous quarter. But growth remains anaemic compared to newer competitors like Instagram and Snapchat.

    The stagnant user growth is all the more stunning when you consider that Twitter’s relevance has arguably never been greater. It is the platform of choice for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and is, therefore, a key tool for following the U.S. election.

    Twitter says it reached a “record” number of daily active users during each of the three presidential debates, but that apparently did not translate into many new monthly active users.

    Twitter’s ability to attract millions of new users has been stymied by what many views as a complicated interface and the all too frequent threat of harassment on the platform. Now Twitter is promising fixes to address abuse, which it says have been in the works for months.

    “Next month, we will be sharing meaningful updates to our safety policy, our product and enforcement strategy,” Twitter said in its shareholder letter.

    Twitter did manage to beat Wall Street’s estimates with quarterly sales of $616 million, but growth there is slowing to a halt. Sales increased just 8% from the same quarter a year earlier. By comparison, its sales in the third quarter of 2015 were up 58% from the year before that.

    Twitter posted a net loss for the quarter of $103 million. It also expects to incur as much as $30 million in costs from the layoffs, due to severance payouts and stock-based compensation.

    The stock was up nearly 5% in pre-market trading Thursday.

  • Chi rewards customers via Facebook, Twitter, others

    CHI  Limited is deploying Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and other digital social networking space to serve and reward its customers. The firm constantly activates all important consumer touch points in exciting and fun ways that also reward the consumer.

    Active across all the leading social media platforms, Chi Limited, a fruit juices and beverages firm,  has concluded a series of social media contest such as ‘My 100 per cent Achievement Contest’ and ‘Tea Side of Life Promo’ for Chivita 100 per cent fruit juice and Chi Ice Tea respectively.

    Other promos included Hollandia Yoghurt’s ‘Colours of Goodness Contest’, Chi Happy Hour ‘Burst of Refreshment Dance Contest’, Chi Exotic ‘My Exotic Weekend Promo’ and Chivita Active ‘Vegetable fruit Mix Promo’.

    “The promotions generated huge interest and tremendous participation even as the number and quality of entries from consumers for the promos also ensured that it remained very interactive and competitive,” Chi Limited’s Head of Marketing, Probal Bhattacharya, said.

    He explained that to stand a chance of winning in the various social media contest, consumers had to like the brand’s page on Facebook and follow it on Instagram and Twitter. He said entries were to be made through the social media platforms. From the submissions, entries were selected and final winners emerged from the overall number of likes and points each of the selected entries received.

  • Waje to answer questions on Twitter

    Waje to answer questions on Twitter

    Talented and multi-award winning musician, Iruobe Aituaje, aka Waje is set to answer questions from fans. This time, the session is being arranged Today’s Woman (TW), a magazine with a bias towards women and issues concerning them.

    In a poster which the artiste posted on her Twitter handle, Waje is smiling, wearing a white shirt and white and black bow tie and decking a white hat with a black band around it. On the picture was written; ‘Ask me anything.’

    The poster also requested that questions should be sent to TW’s Twitter handle, @twmagazineng.

    Waje whose name is an acronym for ‘Words Aren’t Just Enough’ has been a passionate advocate for the betterment of the female folk.

    Currently, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka graduate is an ambassador of the ONE Campaign which seeks to make gender equality a reality. She also contributed to the ONE theme song.

  • Twitter hit by temporary outages in Europe, Africa

    Twitter hit by temporary outages in Europe, Africa

    Social media giant, Twitter on Tuesday said its network was suffering outages in several parts of the world and it was working to resolve the issues.

    The Social network said this through its status website where it acknowledged the problem saying: “Some users are currently experiencing problems accessing Twitter

    It would be recalled that both Twitter web and mobile services suffered outages for at least an hour from January 17 till 19th, with smartphone users receiving the warning: “Tweets aren’t loading right now.”

    Similarly, Twitter users on desktop have not been able to access some other Twitter tools like analytics, and Stats.

    “We are aware of the issue and are working towards a resolution,” a company spokeswoman said.

    However, service began to get better for some affected users in Europe by 1000 GMT, although access remained spotty as hashtags could not be accessed.

    Japan also reported outages but users in other Asian countries said Twitter service was operating normally.

    Also, some African countries suffered outage with the inability to use twitter tools like Tweetdeck, stats among others.

    Some Twitter users in Europe were still able to publish, suggesting there was never a complete blackout in the region.

    [news_box style=”3″ display=”tag” link_target=”_blank” tag=”Social media, Twitter” count=”8″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link”]

  • Twitter falls below IPO price

    Twitter falls below IPO price

    Twitter Inc shares fell below their $26 initial public offering price, down almost two-thirds from a peak soon after the stock began trading.

    The selloff was triggered three weeks ago, when Jack Dorsey, co-founder and interim chief executive officer, warned that it would take a while before Twitter is able to reverse a slowdown in user growth.

    While his candor was applauded by analysts, investors appear to have taken his comments — which also described product performance as “unacceptable” — to heart. The board’s search for a new CEO, and uncertainty over whether Dorsey is in contention for the job, also have weighed on the shares. At stake is whether Twitter — used by 316 million monthly users posting and sharing 140-character messages — can become a mainstream platform instead of a niche forum favored by journalists and celebrities.

    Bloomberg reported that Twitter was down 5.9 percent at $25.97 on Thursday amid a general market selloff. The company’s shares have declined about 28 percent so far this year.

    At the time of Twitter’s November 2013 IPO, the company was heralded as a high-growth stock with the potential to be the next Facebook Inc. Yet the San Francisco-based company has failed to grow as fast as expected. Twitter has endured months of pressure over the user numbers, tweaking its features and shuffling its product and engineering leadership, without much progress.

    Further share declines could add pressure on Twitter to seek a takeover, or complete its search for a CEO. Dorsey also runs Square Inc., which he couldn’t leave without straining the payment company’s planned IPO, people familiar with the matter have said.

    When Twitter reported earnings on July 28, Dorsey and Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto struck a critical tone, saying user growth won’t improve until the service boosts its appeal to a bigger market and that product improvements and marketing so far have met with minimal success. Even since the IPO, Twitter’s growth has stagnated while rival social applications, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, have drawn hundreds of millions more people.

    Twitter’s board also is planning a shakeup that involves the departure of former CEO Dick Costolo, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The changes, which could be announced when the company names a permanent CEO, are aimed at making the group of directors more diverse, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations aren’t public.

  • Twitter introduces poll

    Twitter introduces poll


    Twitter, online social networking service has given its users the ability to engage more audience using polling. This was contained in a post on Twitter Blog by Todd Sherman (@tdd), Product Manager, who said: "We’re excited to share that in the coming days, everyone will be able to create polls on Twitter. "And, with just a couple of taps, people can weigh in on all the topics they care about." According to Sherman on the blog post, if you want the public’s opinion on anything — what to name your dog, who will win tonight’s game, which election issue people care most about — there’s no better place to get answers than on Twitter. "For poll creators, it’s a new way to engage with Twitter’s massive audience and understand exactly what people think. For those participating, it’s a very easy way to make your voice heard. Over the next few days, we’re rolling out the ability to create polls on iOS, Android, and on desktop at twitter.com. Once you see the poll icon shown above in the compose box, give it a try and create your own poll!

  • Man who forewarned of Abuja blast deletes Twitter, Facebook accounts

    A social media user, Chima Okoro who predicted the October 2 Abuja multiple blasts about 24 hours before it occurred has deleted his social media accounts.

    Through his Twitter handle, @ChimaOkoro63, he forewarned about terrorist attacks in Abuja and Lagos.

    He posted 28 tweets between 8:34am and 9:12am,    ?on October 1, listing the areas that will be attacked.

    He said: “I pray for Nigeria. There will be a bomb blast in Abuja and Lagos. Boko Haram is going to attack and kill police, army and navy.

    “They are evil. Believe me or you leave, until you allow #Biafra to go.”

    But the tweets generated controversy after the bomb blasts with many blaming security agencies for not taking steps to avert Friday’s disaster.

    Others however felt the security agencies should have hounded and arrested the guy, who they suspected to be a member of the sect.

    As the tweets generated ethnic strive among social  media users, he deleted his accounts, to prevent further circulation.

    The ethnic verbal war forced other users to investigate his true identity and it was discovered that @ChimaOkoro has multiple identity.

    One Abdul Mahmud (@AbduLMahmud1) said from True Caller application, telephone number 08130502474 on Okoro’s facebook account belonged to one Sadiq Hono.

    However, on another social media platform, 2go, his identity was revealed as Yarima Muazam.

    Mahmud wrote: “A terrorist group or mindless terrorist will not appeal on social media using real identity. @Chimaokoro63 is one example.”

    Ayobami Oyalowo,  @ayourb wrote: “We need cyber police. Criminals like @chimaokoro63 should be taken and questioned. We can’t keep attributing everything to Boko Haram without evidence.”

    “@Chimaokoro63 appears to have left a clue to his real identity. His Facebook account has a mobile telephone number that is revealing.”

    At the time of filing this report, the Directorate of State Security (DSS) could not be reached to know if there are plans to investigate Okoro.

  • Fashola’s twitter account hacked

    Fashola’s twitter account hacked

    Immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola has alerted the public that his twitter account @tundefashola has been compromised by hackers who posted four tweets in a language that resembled Japanese.

    According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello on Saturday, the twitter account must have been compromised on Friday, as members of the public, who follow the former Governor, started calling to draw attention to the strange tweets in the early hours of Saturday.
    Ex- Governor Fashola also recently dissociated himself from a facebook scam, whereby some unscrupulous persons used his photographs and ascribe fictitious statements to him to defraud innocent people.
    Bello said the conmen have, through Facebook, been urging unsuspecting people to apply for some government facilities or utilities meant to benefit the public but to which some agencies of government have been given the responsibility to manage.
    One of such information titled, “Disbursement of Subsidy Dividend (SURE-P)” purported to have been issued by the former Governor is informing “Citizens that Subsidy proceed is available for Agro and commercial business”, and asking them to “Apply for soft loan with no collateral, zero percent interest rate and flexible terms”.
    While advising members of the public to always clarify with the appropriate agencies of government at all levels before engaging in any dealings with people purportedly working for them, Bello urged people to report to the law enforcement agencies so that those involved in the nefarious acts can be made to face the wrath of the law.

  • Twitter falls below IPO price

    Twitter Inc shares fell below their $26 initial public offering price, down almost two-thirds from a peak soon after the stock began trading.

    The selloff was triggered three weeks ago, when Jack Dorsey, co-founder and interim chief executive officer, warned that it would take a while before Twitter is able to reverse a slowdown in user growth.

    While his candor was applauded by analysts, investors appear to have taken his comments — which also described product performance as “unacceptable” — to heart. The board’s search for a new CEO, and uncertainty over whether Dorsey is in contention for the job, also have weighed on the shares. At stake is whether Twitter — used by 316 million monthly users posting and sharing 140-character messages — can become a mainstream platform instead of a niche forum favored by journalists and celebrities.

    Bloomberg reported that Twitter was down 5.9 percent at $25.97 on Thursday amid a general market selloff. The company’s shares have declined about 28 percent so far this year.

    At the time of Twitter’s November 2013 IPO, the company was heralded as a high-growth stock with the potential to be the next Facebook Inc. Yet the San Francisco-based company has failed to grow as fast as expected. Twitter has endured months of pressure over the user numbers, tweaking its features and shuffling its product and engineering leadership, without much progress.

    Further share declines could add pressure on Twitter to seek a takeover, or complete its search for a CEO. Dorsey also runs Square Inc., which he couldn’t leave without straining the payment company’s planned IPO, people familiar with the matter have said.

    When Twitter reported earnings on July 28, Dorsey and Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto struck a critical tone, saying user growth won’t improve until the service boosts its appeal to a bigger market and that product improvements and marketing so far have met with minimal success. Even since the IPO, Twitter’s growth has stagnated while rival social applications, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, have drawn hundreds of millions more people.

    Twitter’s board also is planning a shakeup that involves the departure of former CEO Dick Costolo, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The changes, which could be announced when the company names a permanent CEO, are aimed at making the group of directors more diverse, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations aren’t public.

  • 11 whack things to do on social media

    11 whack things to do on social media

    There is no denying the fact that Social media has come to stay with a truck load of advantages as well as disadvantages. The consciousness of these advantages and disadvantages should help us as social media users to maximise our activities on each platform without offending or endangering ourselves or others.

    Like some people say, “it is just social media”, and when you try to correct some others on the abuse of the social media, they say “is it not my own account?”

    The power the social media wield is unfathomable but many people do not understand that. Just as they can help us make new friends as well as reconnect with old ones, social media has the power to make or mar an individual depending on their activities.

    It has been observed that only a tiny click of social media users who are business conscious often mind their posts and contributions but those that are not do the following whack things which you should not be found doing.

    Click on the start button below to see them.