Rida Habib

Blog Post #1

Twitter on Diversity and Inclusion

Twitter’s Diversity policy/stance is “We’re on a journey to become the world’s most

diverse, inclusive and accessible tech company — it’s key to serving the public conversation.
Our path starts with having a workforce that looks like the amazing people of all backgrounds
and abilities around the world who use our service every day. We’ve made steady progress, but
our work doesn’t end #UntilWeAllBelong.” (Twitter, 2021). What I interpreted from this
statement is that they’re competing with other tech companies to be the most diverse, inclusive,
and accessible. They want to start this initiative by hiring more people of diverse backgrounds
and they’re working on this but it's an ongoing effort. The way they framed the statement makes
it seem like they’re very committed to this plan and that it matters a lot to them, especially by
using words like “amazing people” and “our work doesn’t end #UntilWeAllBelong”. They also
used a hashtag for the initiative which seems like they’re trying to inspire others and make them
a part of the movement.
I do think the statement reflects an ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion, and
cultural competence because they say “our work doesn’t end #UntilWeAllBelong” which gives
the impression that they won’t stop soon. Their diversity efforts involve tracking the percentages
of different minority groups and creating business resource groups for them so that they can feel
empowered by the community. They also base their annual compensation on how close they are
to increasing diversity/inclusion which proves their commitment to this plan (Twitter, 2021).
Their statement includes work they’ve already started to implement. For example, the
percentages of groups they’ve listed and the monthly updates they provide show that this has
already started. They’re also aiming to be more inclusive by funding programs for those from
underrepresented backgrounds and reminding their employees of Voluntary Self ID in Workday,
joining a Global Business Resource Group (BRG) and participating as a team in BRG events
(twitter accounts for different identities), developing an action plan to improve their team’s
Inclusion Scores, etc. Based on their statement and efforts, this is a company I’d potentially want
to work for because instead of making false promises, they’ve acted on their words and are still
trying to make progress.

Twitter on the Digital Divide

One thing that Twitter did or Twitter’s CEO did to eradicate the digital divide is donate
$10 million to Oakland city which resulted in 25,000 Oakland students and families gaining
computer and internet access. It started off with a campaign but then the CEO decided to fund
the initiative. Due to the pandemic, more kids needed access to devices and the internet at home
which is how this campaign began (Harrington, 2020). This is not something that the whole
company did to eradicate or raise awareness to the digital divide since the CEO just donated
money to the cause but it did benefit a lot of students that were struggling and he did it on behalf
of Twitter. Also in 2016, the Community Technology Network (CTN) in San Francisco led
digital literacy classes at the Twitter NeighborNest, a community learning center, “to address the
needs of parents who lack crucial computer skills.” These classes were taught in both Spanish
and English. Twitter NeighborNest is a family-friendly learning center that provides access to
technology for homeless and at-risk families in the Mid-Market, Tenderloin and SOMA areas
(Twitter, 2021). Lastly, On November 20, 2021 Global Partnership for Education (GPE) held a
live Twitter Chat with the CEOs from Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and
Girls Not Brides (GNB) on Closing the Digital Divide to Build Back Equal for Girls (Live twitter
chat: Closing the digital divide to build back, November 20) which opened the discussion of
giving girls equal opportunities. With these initiatives, Twitter has made some effort to grant
internet access to less privileged groups and create digital literacy for those who don’t
understand technology and don’t have the resources to learn.

Resources

Harrington, T. (2020, May 20). Twitter CEO gives $10 million to close the digital gap in

Oakland. EdSource. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from

https://edsource.org/2020/twitter-ceo-gives-10-million-to-close-the-digital-gap-in-oaklan
d/631881.

Social media - November 20. (n.d.). Live twitter chat: Closing the digital divide to build back

equal for girls. Global Partnership for Education. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from
https://www.globalpartnership.org/events/live-twitter-chat-closing-digital-divide-build-ba
ck-equal-girls.

Twitter. (n.d.). Inclusion & diversity. Twitter. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from

https://careers.twitter.com/en/diversity.html.

Twitter. (n.d.). Taking families a step closer to digital literacy at twitter neighbornest. Twitter.

Retrieved September 10, 2021, from

https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/a/2016/taking-families-a-step-closer-to-digital-literacy-at-t
witter-neighbornest.