Twitter says it would love world leaders to use it like Trump

[SAN FRANCISCO] Twitter Inc won't attribute a bump in activity on its platform to US President Donald Trump's prolific usage. But the president's tweets certainly put the company in the spotlight, chief operating officer Anthony Noto said.

People go to Twitter to see what's happening, and if influential people like Mr Trump start discussions there, it's easier for the social media company to deliver on its mission, Mr Noto said.

"We'd love it if every world leader used Twitter as their primary mechanism to talk to their constituencies," Mr Noto said Monday in a Bloomberg Television interview. "The more that happens, the better we are going to be at showing what's going on in the world."

Mr Trump uses the platform frequently, even in the middle of the night, to share his thoughts with the public in 140 characters. He talks about other world leaders, current events and companies.

Often, his tweets spur controversies, such as his unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped him.The president has 28.6 million followers, up from around 24 million at the time of his inauguration.

At its earnings presentation last week, Twitter said it benefited this year from "new and resurrected users following more news and political accounts," especially in the US.

The company added 9 million users in the first quarter, as it works to reverse a slowdown that has caused executive changes and job cuts. Twitter will need to use that growth, as well as a spate of new video deals, to bring advertisers back to the site. Bloomberg News is among Twitter's video partners.

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