For all its faults, Twitter remains the dominant online destination for breaking news and in-the-moment discussion. With some new ads, Twitter is pushing that idea with a particular emphasis on news, sports and politics. The company released two new ads on Monday morning while also announcing a broader marketing effort. "Starting today, we’re taking steps to express what we’re for and what we’ve always been," wrote Twitter Chief Marketing Office Leslie Berland in a blog post. "In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be rolling out marketing including videos and digital ads that center around seeing what’s happening on Twitter." The ads are slick, featuring a variety of cultural scenes, sports highlights, political events and pop-culture references — including Black Lives Matter. In another shorter ad, Twitter is focusing squarely on politics. The platform touts its presence in politics, including a mic drop by President Barack Obama along with the hashtag "#VOTE." Twitter has been working to embrace politics beyond just the platform's use as a news and discussion destination. It recently streamed the Republican National Convention and will also stream the Democratic National Convention. Despite its popularity for live events, Twitter has struggled to compete with other tech giants — leading to plenty of speculation that it could be bought by one of those giants. Twitter stock is currently trading well below its IPO price, indicating that investors have found little reason for optimism in its almost three years as a public company.
Twitter has launched an ad campaign to emphasises the social network's dominant position as the place to connect with breaking news and in-the-moment discussion. The ads feature sports highlights, political events and pop-culture references including Black Lives Matter. One ad features President Obama and includes the hashtag "#vote". Although popular with live events, Twitter has lost ground to the other giant tech companies, prompting speculation that it may be bought by one of them. Facebook is also facing a backlash over its role in spreading fake news.