Linda Yaccarino has officially taken command of Twitter like New CEO. And she did it with an email where she promises to make the social network an accurate source of information, taking up the words of Elon Musk when he said he wanted Twitter as a “global marketplace” to discuss any topic. Making one think that the substance will not change, although the ways are different.
Linda Yaccarino begins work as the new CEO of Twitter
In his first note to employees, entitled “Building Twitter 2.0 together“, underlined his predecessor Elon Musk’s vision for the social network to become the “global forum” in which to discuss society, politics and current affairs. And he does it with a 360-degree praise of the current owner of the social network.
“Elon ha transformed industries that needed change, like space and electric vehicles,” he wrote. “It is now evident that the global marketplace also needs change, to promote civilization through the free exchange of information and a open dialogue on what interests us the most”.
The new CEO goes on to write that “Twitter has a mission to become the most accurate source of real-time information in the world and a global city square for communication. We are on the brink of making history, and this is not an empty promise. This is OUR reality.”
Yaccarino tells employees that if they believe in this mission, “literally anything becomes possible.” Which is not the correct use of “literally”, but it does serve to ask employees to work more vigorously: “you have to really believe – and work for that belief throughout”.
At the same time, he believes these fervent believers (who are also his employees) to “reach the other side of the fence, to forge new partnerships, celebrate new voices and create something together that can change the world.” Only in this way will they be able tobuilding Twitter 2.0 together”.
New CEO, same ideas
Impossible not to grasp in these words the same ideas expressed by Musk during the speeches at the beginning of his Twitter adventure. Even if the tone is different: it seems obvious that Yaccarino is more used than Musk to veil the truth with the right sentences. He doesn’t tell employees they can grind or go home, as Musk did (causing mass layoffs, which still continue), but that they’ll have to work hard for something they believe in.
Yaccarino she is an advertising veteran, having led the global advertising sales for NBCUniversal. Musk said he will continue to lead Twitter’s product and engineering teams while she handles everything else.
Its main challenge will revive Twitter’s advertising business which has weakened since Musk took over. And to do that, he has to convince companies that the Twitter brand is no longer as “hardcore” as Musk would like. In this sense, Yaccarino’s greater diplomacy can make the difference. Though given Musk’s propensity to tweet about any topic, even tweeting highly problematic content, he could test the limits of the new CEO’s mediation skills.