Tag: Twitter

Singapore – Media and social intelligence company Meltwater and social media platform Twitter have co-launched a report that highlights insights on how fashion is being discussed online, and how marketers and advertisers should care about in 2022 and beyond.

The report explores the conversation drivers around top-trending fashion topics on Twitter over the past year— including luxury fashion, meta fashion, handmade fashion, inclusive fashion, and retro fashion— as well as ways that brands can stay ahead when it comes to responding to these conversations.

According to the report, the past year has seen high-end fashion conversations flourish on Twitter, and have grown 16.7% between March 2021 and February 2022. With an average of 20,000 mentions per day, this category saw the largest increase in mentions compared to other verticals like athleisure, fast fashion, and street style.

In addition, conversations about meta fashion have increased more than 1,500% as the metaverse, VR, and AR have entered the wider cultural consciousness. Across 1 million conversations that reached more than 330 million Twitter users, meta fashion netizens focused on luxury and designer pieces like sneakers, particularly when involving well-known, high-end brands and celebrities.

Lastly, after widespread calls for more diversity in the fashion industry in 2020 and 2021, the conversation around inclusive fashion has grown 7% in the past 6 months — averaging 1,400 mentions a day. Our analysis found that about 77% of authors in this conversation are writers, editors, designers, creators, bloggers, and models. Together, they give voice to this customer base’s values: inclusivity and innovative style.

Meltwater’s VP of Partnerships and Product Marketing Johnny Vance, said, “The insights in The Fashion Industry’s New Era illustrate the value of social listening and analytics. Explore, Meltwater’s AI-powered social listening platform sifts through billions of data points each day and enables brands, marketers, and boardrooms to enhance decision making whilst ensuring their marketing strategies remain both forward-thinking and customer-centric.”

He added, “By leveraging this kind of market research, brands, teams, and organisations can improve their competitive positioning, ultimately enabling an agile marketing strategy addressing the real-time shifts in consumer behaviour.”

Meanwhile, Lauren Jenkins, head of the Twitter Official Partner Program, commented, “To create innovative and impactful marketing strategies, you must have a comprehensive understanding of your target audience. The Fashion Industry’s New Era report, developed in partnership with Meltwater, taps into the global fashion conversation on Twitter to identify meaningful insights and emerging trends within the industry. The insights shared within the report provide fashion marketers and advertisers with a solid foundation they can use to build out their future marketing strategies.”

San Francisco, USA – Social media giant Twitter has announced that they will be acquired by multi-billionaire CEO of Tesla Elon Musk for US$44b, based on US$54.20 per share in cash. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.

This follows after Elon Musk announced that he had previously bought a 9.2% stake in the company and invited to be part of the company’s board. However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal clarified back then that Musk won’t be joining the board.

Speaking about his acquisition of Twitter, Musk said, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

He added, “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

Meanwhile, Agrawal commented, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, said, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”

Singapore – Social media platform Twitter has announced that it will be prohibiting misleading advertising regarding climate change on their platform. The announcement was made to a recent blog by the company in celebration of this year’s Earth Day.

The blog, written by Director of Sustainability Seán Boyle and Global Sustainability Manager Casey Junod, notes that said approach is informed by authoritative sources, like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports. 

“We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” they said.

They also added, “We recognize that misleading information about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet. In the coming months, we’ll have more to share on our work to add reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations happening on Twitter.”

Twitter also pledged to continue its dedicated topic rollout on the platform to help people find personalised conversations about climate change, which included a stint for #COP26 last year, where Twitter rolled out pre-bunks — hubs of credible, authoritative information across a range of key themes, like the science backing climate change, made available in the ‘Explore’ tab, ‘Search’, and ‘Trends’.

The platform also noted that the climate conversation happening on Twitter is ever-expanding and uniquely global. Since 2021, conversation about sustainability has grown by more than 150%, and they have seen a 60% increase in terms like ‘restoring’ and ‘rebalancing’. In addition, discussion around waste reduction has increased by over 100%, and decarbonization by more than 50%.

“We all have a part we can play in tackling this urgent, global crisis. From volunteering with an environmental organisation in your community, to joining a Twitter Space with environmental experts, to learning more about protecting our planet, there are lots of ways to get involved,” the company concluded.

California, USA — Multi-billionaire and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk has rescinded his decision to join social media giant Twitter’s board. 

In a tweet on Sunday night by Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, he clarified that Musk will not be joining the company’s board.

“The Board and I had many discussions about Musk joining the board, and with Musk directly. We were excited to collaborate and be clear about the risks,” Agrawal said.

In the same tweet, he continued: “Musk’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 9 April, but Musk shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Musk is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”

Less than a week ago, Musk was reported to have bought a 9.2% stake in the social media giant making him the largest individual shareholder. The buyout would also mean Musk was eligible to be part of the company’s board as a Class II director according to Twitter’s regulatory filings; a role that would end in 2024.

New York, USA – Multi-billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, officially joins the board of global social media platform Twitter, following Musk buying a 9.2% stake in the company.

In a tweet by Parag Agrawal, CEO at Twitter, he said that Musk is both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service, which is exactly what they need on Twitter and in the boardroom, to make them stronger in the long-term.

Twitter said in its regulatory filing that Musk is categorised as a Class II director with a term expiring at the company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. In addition, Twitter pointed out that for as long as MrMusk is serving on the Board and for 90 days thereafter, Musk will not, either alone or as a member of a group, become the beneficial owner of more than 14.9% of Twitter’s common stock outstanding at such time.

The decision comes six months after Agrawal became the platform’s CEO while its founder Jack Dorsey left the company to become the CEO of Block, an American financial services and digital payments company.

Manila, Philippines – With the Philippines’ 2022 national elections fast approaching and in order to promote healthy civic discussion online, social media platform Twitter has partnered with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to amplify voter education initiatives on the policy, product and partnership front to protect the integrity of election-centric conversations on the platform.

To unite people around election conversations on Twitter, the platform has launched a series of customised emojis that aim to be valuable visual links to aid the discoverability of election-related discussions. The emojis will run throughout the campaign period and will be available until 27 May.

From 16 March, a microphone emoji with the Philippine flag colours can be activated by the hashtag #PilipinasDebates2022 and #AskPilipinasDebates, in line with the ongoing national debates of candidates. Meanwhile, starting 31 March, for election-related conversation, Twitter is launching a special emoji that features a ballot box, a universal symbol for elections, set in front of the Philippine flag. They can be activated using the hashtags #2022NLE, #BumotoKa, #Halalan2022, #Piniliay2022, #HIJAlalan2022, #PHVote, #PHVoteResults, and #WeDecide.

In addition, starting 31 March, an emoji featuring the silhouette of a female, who represents the Motherland, will be activated by use of the hashtag #VoteSafePilipinas.

Additionally, online search prompts will be available to facilitate access to authoritative sources of information on voting in both Filipino and English languages. The search prompt is a notification service that connects people to credible information about the elections. When searching for keywords associated with the Philippine General Election such as “NLE 2022,” “Vote Philippines” and “General Election”; the search result will show a notification at the top, directing people to the latest credible election information from COMELEC or VoteSAFEPilipinas.

James B. Jimenez, director of education and information department at COMELEC, said, “With a record-breaking 65.7 million registered voters, the Philippines is expected to hold one of the largest elections in Asia. During this most important time for us as a nation; collaboration between governments, industry partners and civic organisations is crucial to protect the integrity of the elections. We are pleased to be partnering with Twitter to fight misinformation and encourage voter participation.”

To support the diverse voter base, Twitter is partnering and working together with a wide range of partner organisations to ensure Twitter is a place for healthy public conversation. In addition, they will be hosting and/or promoting a series of events on Twitter to educate voters on the elections process, fight against misinformation, and foster healthy discussions around election-specific issues. These organisations include #FactsFirstPH, Foundation for Media Alternatives, GMA Network, Legal Network for Truthful Elections, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and Plan International Philippines (@planphilippines).

Monrawee Ampolpittayanant, head of public policy, government and philanthropy for Twitter in Southeast Asia, commented, “At Twitter, protecting the integrity of public conversation during elections is core to our mission. Our policies are designed to help protect against inauthentic information and safeguard healthy public conversations. Drawing on insights and lessons from previous elections, both globally and in the Philippines, we have implemented products, policies, and enforcement updates to protect and support the conversation taking place during the course of the upcoming election.”

She added, “Platforms like Twitter are where important election related conversations are taking place. We are closely monitoring abusive behaviour, this includes content in Filipino, and will not tolerate any rule-violating activities, such as spam. Together with COMELEC, non-profit organisations and other trusted partners on the ground; we continue to harness the power of the #OpenInternet to strengthen civic dialogue and encourage quality participation during this important Philippine General Election.”

The platform also announced that they have formed an internal elections group to lead their electoral integrity work from now through polling day. Using their proprietary-built internal tools, the team will proactively protect Trends on Twitter in the Philippines, support partner escalations, and identify potential threats from malicious actors. 

“Cross-functional by design, we have a dedicated and specially trained team, consisting of the company’s top trust and safety experts with local language capabilities and a deep understanding of local contexts. This blend of perspectives, expertise, and backgrounds is absolutely critical in addressing issues that arise from the elections,” Twitter said in a press statement.

Manila, Philippines — Social networking giant and platform Twitter has launched a campaign ahead of this year’s Safer Internet Day. Following the theme ‘Together for a better internet, Twitter is calling upon people to join together to make the Internet a safer and better place for all, especially for younger users. In the last year, the platform has made expansions on its policies and updated its features to help ensure that people have positive experiences while using Twitter.

Ahead of 8 February, Twitter has disclosed key highlights to its Safety and Health updates to prove that they are one with the cause. A key update that the platform has rolled out is the launch of the one-time content warnings globally to be added as warnings for sensitive content on their timelines to combat sensitive content encounters without being initially notified. The social networking app also launched the Digital Safety playbook to help people feel safer, be in control, and manage their digital footprint. The playbook is downloadable and available in seven languages namely English, French, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish (Spain), and Spanish (Latin America).

Aside from that, Twitter has also updated their Covid-19 misleading information policy to help ensure that people can find the right information about Covid-19 on Twitter. Twitter also expanded the #ThereIsHelp notification search prompt to provide credible information from authoritative sources to those who need it.

In December 2021, the company launched a global expansion of the HIV notification search prompt to provide the right information about HIV across the Asia Pacific and the Americas. Meanwhile, in May of last year, Twitter launched a freedom of expression search prompt in Thailand that will connect people to the NGOs whenever they search Thai keywords associated with freedom of expression on Twitter.

Lastly, Twitter collaborated with UN Women Asia Pacific to amplify its support on creating awareness toward gender-based violence in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

In the Philippines, Plan International teamed up with Twitter to launch #NotForSale: A Safer Twitter Campaign and Resource Hub. The humanitarian organisation will also host a Twitter Spaces with partners from the Down to Zero programme to combat the sexual exploitation of children in 12 countries across Asia and Latin America.

To encourage conversation around safer internet use, the company has launched a special emoji which will be available until 13 February. People can activate it by Tweeting with the following hashtags like #SaferInternetDay, #SID2022, #MasLigtasNaInternet, #ArawNgMasLigtasNaInternet.

Jakarta, Indonesia – As the music genre of K-pop continues to be more appreciated globally, thanks in part to the prominence of K-pop groups on Twitter, more and more K-pop fans take to Twitter to show support and appreciation for the genre. In 2021, the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia ranked first in countries globally talking about K-pop on the platform, according to the latest insights released by the social media platform itself.

Indonesia also ranked first in the countries globally who have the most active K-pop fans in the platform. It bested other countries in Asia such as the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and even South Korea itself in regards to online engagement related to K-pop.

In terms of most-tweeted K-pop groups globally, K-pop boy band BTS ranked first, followed by fellow K-pop boy bands NCT, ENHYPEN, EXO, and K-pop girl group BLACKPINK. Meanwhile, in terms of emerging K-pop groups, ENHYPEN ranked first, followed by TOMORROW x TOGETHER, TREASURE, aespa, and ITZY.

For YeonJeong Kim, head of global K-pop partnerships at Twitter, as the global consumption of Korean content grows, they look forward to seeing even more diverse conversations on Twitter and providing more content you can see exclusively on the platform in 2022.

“In 2021, with BTS and NCT leading the conversation, we could also see an increase in conversation related to rising artists such as ENHYPEN, aespa, and ITZY. But beyond K-pop, we’ve also seen discussions about Korean content across the board on Twitter growing with K-pop fans talking about not just their favorite music, performances, concerts, and daily lives, but showing increasing interest in dramas and webtoons with K-pop soundtracks or starring K-pop idols,” Kim stated.

Manila, Philippines – Despite the ongoing pandemic, sports is still making a mainstream comeback, and now more than ever, being amplified across social media platforms such as Twitter. In the Philippines, sports still dominates the online discussions among Filipinos with basketball echoing its popularity on Twitter.

According to the latest statistics released by the platform, discussions about basketball in the Philippines generated over 6.2 million tweets, a jump of 6.90% versus 2020. In particular, most of the basketball-related Tweets were due to the excitement brought by the NBA All-Star and NBA Playoffs in 2021. The hashtag #nbaallstar was also often used, while Lebron James (@kingjames) and Stephen Curry (@stephencurry30) were some of the top players Filipinos Tweeted about in 2021.

Meanwhile, online discussion about the Tokyo 2020 Olympics also prevailed among Filipinos’ sport discussion, with weightlifting athlete Hidilyn Diaz being the first ever Filipino athlete to win gold in the Olympics, and Filipino skater Margielyn Didal who captured people’s hearts with her cheerful nature on and off the skating rink.

There has been a notable uptick in discussion as well in the realm of esports, when Blacklist International, the esports team under Tier One, emerged as champions in the M3 World Grand Finals last December 2021. Other esports discussions include #GenshinImpact being the most-tweeted about hashtag in gaming, while interactive games such as Valorant and Mobile Legends were on the rise as well in 2021.

For Maurizio Barbieri, head of sports and gaming partnerships for SEA and Greater China at Twitter, Twitter and sports will always have a special and tight relationship, adding that as events faced postponements and cancellations last year, sport fans on Twitter kept the passion and fervour alive by cheering, encouraging, and celebrating the wins together wherever they were.

“As competitions resumed this year, the built-up anticipation resulted in a global frenzy that transcended borders, with Twitter connecting the like-minded community to give them front row seats to all the action and a valuable avenue to participate in the excitement,” Barbieri said.

Singapore – Mitchell Kreuch has been promoted to the role of managing director for Southeast Asia at Twitter, coming from his previous role as part of Twitter’s APAC agency development. In his new role, he will be responsible for continuing and accelerating Twitter’s revenue growth in Southeast Asia.

He will be reporting to Yu Sasamoto, vice president for Asia-Pacific at Twitter.

Prior to joining Twitter in 2017, Kreunch l spent almost three decades in the sales, marketing, and media industries across the US and in Asia Pacific. He has worked for global brands such as The Walt Disney Company, Yahoo!, and the New York Time

Speaking about his appointment, he said that in his new role, continuous growth of the platform in Southeast Asia is a top priority, adding that having led Twitter’s agency development in the APAC region for the past two years, he is excited to expand the role to lead the revenue growth team in the Southeast Asia region.

“Through Yu’s leadership and collaboration with our amazing team across the region, I look forward to unlocking more opportunities and continuing to showcase Twitter’s values to help brands stay connected with our audiences in the region,” Kreunch said.

Meanwhile, Sasamoto commented that they are excited to have Mitchell lead their revenue growth and continue accelerating their revenue growth across the Southeast Asia region.

“With Mitchell’s extensive experience in sales, media, and marketing over the past three decades, I’m confident that he will be a strong leader for our Southeast Asia sales team, strengthen our client and partner relationships across this region, and increase our commitment to Southeast Asia as a high-growth region for Twitter,” he added.