Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, used his personal account to address users of the service directly yesterday. The executive asked them what was the most important thing they wished for Twitter in 2017.
Dorsey reiterated that he was “following the footsteps of Brian Chesky,” Airbnb’s CEO, who tweeted a similar question to its users last Monday and later added that he had received over a thousand proposals.
Dorsey’s tweet currently has more than 6,000 replies with many suggestions. Dorsey responded to a significant number of them, which might translate to big changes for the social media platform next year.
Twitter might let users edit their tweets and add a ‘bookmark’ feature
Following in the footsteps of Brian Chesky: what's the most important thing you want to see Twitter improve or create in 2017? #Twitter2017
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Dorsey’s long Twitter thread allowed many users to voice their concerns, with a high percentage complaining about the website’s handling of harassment, spam, troll accounts, and online bullying.
Others asked for an editing function that could work anytime, Dorsey later stated that this feature is under serious consideration.
A ‘bookmark’ feature is also one of the most attractive ideas. Some users complained that the ‘like’ button might be confusing, as liking a certain tweet can often pass as an endorsement.
Other users also suggested Twitter could combine both the ‘quoting’ and ‘mention’ system, as they practically have the same function.
Dorsey also expressed Twitter’s commitment to honest journalism, which will prove valuable in the era of fake news websites.
2016 was a rough year for Twitter
The social media platform has had some setbacks over the past few months. In late October, they laid off the Vine app and more than a hundred employees with it.
A significant number of executives also resigned from the Silicon Valley giant, the latest being Jana Messerschmidt, head of business development, and Nathan Hubbard, head of media and commerce.
These problems pair up with some of the company’s failed business moves, which arguably led their stock to go down 29% this year.
Twitter’s largest issue, according to most users, is the company seems to be unable to implement large changes successfully. Their latest additions, such as the ‘While you were away’ feature, have received criticism for being repetitive and potentially annoying.
Dorsey has been the company’s CEO since late 2015, with many people arguing that he has failed to bring new life into the platform. His current effort, however, received great praise. The executive will do a roundup of user proposals today, he later tweeted.
Source: Wall Street Journal