Twitter eyes Aussie celebs and politicians

Twitter wants to boost use by Australian celebrities, politicians and journalists, two new job adverts show.

Twitter is looking to boost the number of Australian celebrities, politicians and journalists who use the platform.

The Australian office has posted adverts for two new positions - one to secure new partnerships with the entertainment industry, the other with newsmedia and government.

The job descriptions provide a rare insight into Twitter's strategy in Australia and reflect a focus on high-profile users.

The manager of government and news partnerships will be tasked with significantly boosting Twitter use by politicians, journalists and government officials, the ad says.

They'll attract "the most compelling content in the world of government and news" to Twitter, while also scaling up the platform's reach and impact among political users.

The second position will work to convince all manner of entertainers, from actors and musicians to TV hosts and celebrity chefs, of Twitter's value.

They'll also expand "creative relationships" between Twitter, celebrities and their agents.

The adverts come at a challenging time for the social media company. Shares fell to their lowest point this week, hitting a record low of $US37.24 ($A40.29), down from $US74.73 at Christmas.

The drop betrays mounting concern about Twitter's ability to attract new users, numbers of which have slowed consistently for five straight quarters.

The company also admitted this week that its 255 million monthly users are tending to check the service less frequently than they did a year ago.

Locally, Twitter has been steadily increasing its presence since late 2012, forging several high-profile partnerships with sporting codes and media organisations.

It formally opened an Australian office in Sydney's CBD in September last year, appointing former Google Asia-Pacific executive Karen Stocks as its Australian managing director.

The latest estimate put the number of Australian users at about two million.


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Source: AAP


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Twitter eyes Aussie celebs and politicians | SBS News