What: A new ad about improving women’s experiences online.
Who: Twitter
We stand with women around the world to make their voices heard and their presence known. To bring them front and center, today and every day. Join us as we say #HereWeAre pic.twitter.com/cN2Ik6bZU8
— Twitter (@Twitter) March 4, 2018
Why we care: On the face of it, the spot featuring poet Denice Frohman reciting her own work as images of a diverse group of women flash across the screen–including Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae, and other filmmakers and artists–was the most poignant and powerful brand message of Oscar night. But it almost immediately drew criticism and calls of hypocrisy, not for the message but the messenger. It’s all well and good for Twitter to really believe what it’s saying, but it remains one of the more toxic social media environs, and plenty of people were quick to make that connection.
How about you spend the money you used on this ad to hire moderators to kick accounts that terrorize women off your platform?
How about you hire more engineers who aren’t men to build your platform so that you don’t have giant blind spots putting users at risk? #HereWeAre https://t.co/RBDtfYkKQY
— ella dawson (@brosandprose) March 5, 2018