TORONTO –Kirstine Stewart left the world of TV programming to open Twitter’s first office here in Canada, and stopped by Global News’ The Morning Show in Toronto to update us on what’s new with Twitter, how it relates to traditional media and who she follows.
She started with some good news for the networks: Stewart doesn’t think television is doomed.
And speaking of amplification, Stewart gave some details on the new Twitter Amplify program – which allows brands and their advertisers to create short video clips in their tweets — for example, five-to-ten second clips of weather reports, instant replays from sports games, or clips from a primetime show. Shaw, Global News’ parent company, is the first Canadian media company to join forces with Twitter for this new program.
“Amplify is recognizing that people who are watching TV are doing more than one thing at the same time…with something like a Big Brother or any real-time show…cast members get on and talk about what they experienced when they were on the show. It’s a real openness and it creates another layer of content around what you actually see in real time on television,” she explained.
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“There’s an opportunity to increase-naturally-the conversation that happens around the show, and create more content behind the scenes.”
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When it comes to who Stewart follows on Twitter herself, she said what she likes is being able to tailor the platform to what your interests are, and calls it something you can use “as deeply or as peripherally as you want to.”
Her No. 2 pick is CBC personality Rick Mercer.
“He goes across the country, reflects what makes us different,” she said. “He has a real opportunity to talk to Canadians in a different way and I love following him.”
And speaking to The Morning Show co-host Kris Reyes, Stewart picked her as someone who blends her show, what’s going on in the news, and her personal life.
“The fact you were at Bruno Mars last night–people like that, they like authenticity,” said Stewart. “They want to hear real character in the Twitter account and I think someone like you does a great job at that.”
Her final thought?
“It’s interesting how much of a commodity that little blue checkmark has become,” she said. “I think that’s a nice sign as to how much Twitter is valued by people.”
Watch the full interview above.
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