Article content continued

“Grateful for the chance to lead Twitter Canada and so proud of the team there,” he said in the tweet. “Thanks to all my Tweeps. Looking forward to what’s next.”

Capern took over as Twitter Canada’s managing director in February 2016 following the departure of Kirstine Stewart, who lead the Canadian team since 2013. Before coming to Twitter, he had held positions at Google and Microsoft.

Twitter Canada’s headquarters in Toronto is largely a sales office, though it’s been expanding more into other areas such as communications, product development and its curated-tweet section called Moments.

The company works on building partnerships with companies and brands across the country for advertising campaigns and video-related products.

Most recently, the company signed a deal with the Canadian Football League to broadcast a live weekly show from its Toronto headquarters called CFL This Week, which has video highlights, guest interviews and real-time fan engagement through Twitter itself.

Other recent partnerships include live streaming video coverage of the Much Music Video Awards pre-show or signing sports-related video deals with the National Lacrosse League or Toronto Raptors.

“Live streaming video has become a huge part of the Twitter experience for millions of Canadians,” Capern said in a statement earlier this year. More online video is consumed per capita in Canada than in many other countries, the company said, which is why Twitter places an emphasis on it.

Canadian Twitter employees also spend time touring the country to meet with and educate citizens, politicians, businesses and journalists on how to use Twitter more effectively.

“It is on us to surface the utility of Twitter in ways that may not seem obvious,” Capern said in an interview when he first got the role as head of Canada in February 2016. “We have a ton of work to do in crafting the message to the world about what Twitter really is and how you can use it.”

Financial Post

jomcconnell@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/JoshMcConnell