Social Media Today: Diversity Data, Foursquare Rebrands, New Oculus Project
By Melony Roy
Twitter releases diversity data
Twitter has released diversity data on its company, joining other tech companies like LinkedIn, Facebook and Google.
Of Twitter's 3,000 employees about 59% are predominately white and 70% are men.
The company's gender gap widens when broken down by expertise with 90% of Twitter's technology employees are men. Also, almost 80% of those in leadership positions are men and 72% are white.
In a blog post, Twitter says "We want to be more than a good business; we want to be a business that we are proud of. To that end, we are joining some peer companies by sharing our ethnic and gender diversity data. And like our peers, we have a lot of work to do."
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Foursquare's new logo & app
Foursquare's rebranding efforts continue with a new app and logo.
Foursquare is also getting a new logo, the check mark is gone and is replaced with a stylized "F".
Starting today, the official Foursquare app will have check-ins removed and focus local discovery and recommendations. Users who want to check-in will have to download Foursquare's spin-off app Swarm.
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Virtual reality pioneer working with Samsung
According to CNET, Facebook's Oculus VR is working with Samsung Electronics on a headset that uses mobile devices to create a Virtual Reality experience.
An Oculus -Samsung partnership would give each company the potential to outmaneuver competitors.
For Samsung, a head-mounted virtual reality device would help to differentiate its products from devices like Apple's iPhone with headline-grabbing new functionality.
For Oculus, a mobile version of its software running on smartphones would reach a wider audience, cementing it as a leader for virtual reality in any form.
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Follow KYW social media editor Melony Roy @MelonyRoy.