Renee Chorney, who leads the Infrastructure Ops Technical Program Management Team at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, stopped by Nov. 7 to speak to students about the popular social networking site and what it’s like to work in the California tech industry. Chorney graduated from Bryant High School in 1993 and has worked at numerous tech companies including Hewlett-Packard and NTT America.
Like other California web companies, employees at Twitter’s headquarters enjoy a full gym, a game room and three full meals a day. Although the company aims to give employees fun reasons to come to work, hard work and long hours are involved as they are with any other successful company.
“If you want to get into something like Twitter or Facebook, my advice is to go to college. Dig into the things what you’re interested in. Passion is more important than a formal education. We want people who are really passionate about their jobs,” Chorney said.
Twitter stock became available to the public on the same day Chorney made her visit to the school. Students voiced their questions about Twitter’s future as the company announced it’s new focus on turning a profit. Students wanted to know what Twitter planned on doing with the money it’d earn from its initial public offering and ads, and if the advertisements would interfere with the experience of the site.
While she couldn’t disclose the details of Twitter’s financial plans, Chorney said they include research and development to make Twitter a better product.
Twitter, known for its user’s 140 character tweets, has quickly become a useful platform for companies to advertise their products in ways that are relevant and interactive.
One of the greatest examples of innovative advertising was tweeted by Oreo during last year’s Super Bowl blackout. Oreo posted an ad related to the blackout almost immediately after power was lost, which captured the attention of millions of users who had flocked to Twitter to tweet about the game.
Chorney also discussed the social network’s value to journalists as a powerful news-reporting tool. The Hudson River plane crash, Michael Jackson’s death and the discovery of ice on Mars were news stories whose first headline came in the form of a tweet. Reporters can search for tweets based on key words or locations, allowing them to access immediate updates about breaking stories as they happen.
In addition to being immediate, Twitter is worldwide. Chorney explained to students that tweets are 140 characters in length to ensure they can be posted by text message, which in recent years has become a commodity available to third world countries as well as modern nations. As it grows, Twitter aims to become integrated in people’s lives as a tool that can be used by everyone, wherever they may be.
You can follow Renee Chornsky at @reneessance.
