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Twitter‘s CEO Dick Costolo has some intriguing ideas about the future of the 140-character social network. Learn more about this fascinating tech figure right here.
1. Dick Costolo Has Plans to Improve Twitter Messaging
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In a conversation with Business Insider, Dick Costolo revealed his thoughts about improving Twitter’s direct messaging feature:
“Specifically, being able to take a public conversation and being able to migrate it to a private channel. So, taking a public tweet, and being able to have a conversation about that public tweet with a private group of people is a compelling use case. One we see internally as something a lot of us would like to do and one that will be a real engagement driver for us.”
Based on those comments, it seems likely that the Twitter DM features you know and love are set to get an upgrade at some time in the future.
2. Under Dick Costolo, Twitter Has Seen Massive Growth
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Costolo was formerly the COO of Twitter, but took over the CEO role from Evan Williams in October of 2010. Under Costolo, Twitter has grown. At the company’s most recent earnings call on Tuesday, July 29, Twitter reported Q2 revenue of $312 million. This beat analyst’s expectations, sending shares of Twitter up 30 percent in after-hours trading.
3. Dick Costolo Used to Be an Improv Comic
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Before becoming a leader in the tech industry, Costolo worked as an improvisational comedian. The Chicago Tribune writes that Costolo became interested in improv after taking some theater classes in college. Following graduation, he moved to Chicago and made a living by making audiences laugh.
The Tribune argues that Costolo has kept his sense of humor over the years, singling out one of Costello’s 2009 tweets (seen below) as an example.
First full day as Twitter COO tomorrow. Task #1: undermine CEO, consolidate power.
— dick costolo (@dickc) September 13, 2009
4. Dick Costolo Has Criticized Wikipedia
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When Wikipedia “went dark” to protest SOPA in 2012, Costolo called out Wikipedia for making a “silly” decision.
The Guardian quotes Costolo, who said of the Wikipedia blackout: “That’s just silly. Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish.”
5. Costolo Doesn’t Compare Twitter to Facebook
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In an interview with Business Insider, Costolo was asked how he felt about Twitter’s growth, compared to that of Facebook. Business Insider’s Jay Yarow noted that Twitter’s addition of 16 million users since the previous quarter was less impressive than Facebook’s addition of 41 million users in the same time.
In response, Dick Costolo said:
“We have specific goals and objectives for ourselves, and that’s how we measure ourselves and think about ourselves…It’s about being a real-time information network, building the largest audience in the world and knowing that we’re going to invest in being public, real-time conversational, and widely distributed. If we do those things, everything else will take care of itself. I don’t think about that in the context of how it stacks up versus a company A, B, or C.”
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Dick Costolo: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know