Twitter CEO Asks Users How They'd Improve the Platform Jack Dorsey copied Airbnb's Brian Chesky's approach of crowdsourcing advice for his own company.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
On Christmas night, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted, "If @Airbnb could launch anything in 2017, what would it be?" Inspired by this callout, Jack Dorsey used his own company's product yesterday to take a page out of Chesky's book.
On Thursday, Dorsey tweeted, "Following in the footsteps of Brian Chesky: what's the most important thing you want to see Twitter improve or create in 2017? #Twitter2017"
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
Related: Airbnb CEO Asks Twitter What His Company Should Launch in 2017
Earlier this week, Dorsey promoted Chesky's suggestions callout by quote-tweeting it with the caption, "Love this." Less than 24 hours after the thread began, Chesky tweeted that he had received more than 1,000 ideas -- everything from tips for improving Airbnb's booking interface to expanding the company to Mars.
Respondents to Dorsey's brainstorm session included techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levie. As of Friday morning at 9:49 a.m., Dorsey's initial tweet had garnered 5,960 replies, 1,309 retweets and 2,520 likes. (He also created a similar thread for Square, the other company he leads, which has received 219 replies.)
@jack Tools that support better conversation and control over one's attention on the site. Both sorely lacking. See: https://t.co/JVAqwWSZwm
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) December 29, 2016
@jack maybe a commitment to trustworthy journalism and working with networks of good faith, like @firstdraftnews, https://t.co/ykfhQGLUKr
— craignewmark (@craignewmark) December 29, 2016
.@jack autocorrect the word "nuclear" to "cotton candy" to ensure we don't accidentally go to war due to a president's tweet.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) December 30, 2016
Related: Twitter's Jack Dorsey on How BIZ Experiencess Should Use Twitter
Dorsey received several suggestions about cracking down on bullying and harassment on Twitter, to which he replied that the company has done a lot of work but has a lot more to do.
@JGoodDFC made progress here and lots more to do
— jack (@jack) December 30, 2016
The thread was also a forum for debate about a feature many users have demanded for quite some time: Tweet editing. Dozens of people weighed in with thoughts about time limits and clear labels for edited tweets.
This is our most requested feature (today & always). Mostly to quickly fix mistakes. Anything beyond would need to show revision history https://t.co/fHtGNjkuEx
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Twitter has implemented a few product tweaks this year, such as removing usernames from the 140-character count of tweet replies, but the core service has largely remained static since 2006. Now, faced with executive resignations and an inability to close a sale, Dorsey's callout seems like less of a matter of curiosity or PR and more of a practical means of boosting Twitter's appeal. However, Dorsey has long admired the use of Twitter by business leaders to engage with the public.
Related: Jack Dorsey Explains Why Elon Musk Has One of the Best Twitter Accounts
The CEO followed-up with a note that he would summarize the Twitter conversation on Friday.
Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. Will do a roundup tomorrow https://t.co/hMJMZ3P0Rz
— jack (@jack) December 30, 2016
