TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in technology from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to leading companies in Silicon Valley. Twitter participated for the first time this year by connecting International Product Manager Laura Gómez with Essraa Abbas. Here are Essraa's reflections on her experience. - Ed. 

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” This aptly describes how I feel about Twitter and the impact it is making on a global scale, and why I feel so lucky to have been a mentee here.

I applied for the TechWomen (@techwomen) program to accomplish two main things. The first was to get in touch with people with different technology and business expertise that will help me in starting my own company. Secondly, I wanted to bring the knowledge I learned here and share it with my community when I return to Egypt. My goal is to one day own a successful company, big enough to incubate uprising startups and be able to use some of the knowledge I gained here to help guide them to success.

During my stay, I studied the impact Twitter had on Egypt and the MENA region, and I worked on research related to RTL (right-to-left) support in Twitter and other social media counterparts like Facebook and Google+ from a native perspective. It is no wonder how this company has been such a force behind empowering people, particularly during the Arab Spring. I can see their passion, focus and their commitment to the mission and core values of Twitter, confirming my belief that people are the most important asset of any great company.

In Egypt, we do not lack talents, nor do we lack potential. What we really lack is mentorship and great working environments. I was impressed with the diversity of career paths in the technology field here in Silicon Valley. As such, creating a wide variety of choices is one of the things I want my own company to offer, because I know what Egyptians are capable of and currently, options are limited.

I am very thankful to all of the inspiring men and women at Twitter, especially the International team for hosting me and my mentor, Laura I. Gómez (@laura), for all the efforts she has put into making this mentorship fruitful. I look forward to returning to Egypt so I can share my learnings and continue to support the growth of female engineers around the world.

Guest-posted by Essraa Abbas (@EssraaAbbas)

Following the people you know makes Twitter a more personal way to discover essential information. That’s why we’re introducing a new email that makes it easier to connect with your friends, classmates and co-workers on Twitter.

This weekly email highlights a handful of people you may know who use Twitter. You can choose to follow any of the suggested people and you can find more people you may know on twitter.com. Suggestions are based on signals like who your friends follow and the contact information imported by people you know. For example, if several people you know follow someone, you may also know them and want to follow them too. There’s no telling who you might find on Twitter, so open this weekly message for an ongoing source of great accounts to follow.

Of course, you can choose whether or not to receive new messages from Twitter in your email notification settings. Since your inbox is a doorway to information you want, we aim to make it as easy as possible for you to manage your Twitter email.

Posted by Bogdan Cristian Tataroiu @bogdan2412
Engineering Intern, Growth and International Team

A week of controversial @NFL ref action means a week of highly charged Twitter reaction: With a number of challenged calls, upsets, impossible plays and injuries, fans and players took to Twitter to tweet their frustration, encouragement, excitement — even condolences.

There’s a lot to love about summer - but I usually find myself counting down the days until many of my favorites shows on TV return in the fall. Fortunately, Twitter makes that wait easier; all year long, I can connect with my favorite show and stars (and sometimes even the characters themselves). And now with fall premieres underway, TV and Twitter are better than ever. 



We’ve created a Discover page to help you find & follow your favorite TV stars from this week’s premieres -- check it out at discover.twitter.com/falltv.html. 



All week long, stars from the most highly anticipated new and returning shows will be live-tweeting the premieres. In classic TV guide style, here’s a lineup for how to connect with this week’s hottest premieres on Twitter. We’ve included the time that your favorite stars will be tweeting their season premieres so that you don’t miss any of the action.



Keep on eye on @TwitterTV this week as well - you never know who else may be joining the cast of live-tweeters!

MONDAY (Sept. 24)
How I Met Your Mother (@HIMYM_CBS) | #HIMYM, #TedandVictoria: 8pm ET


Ashley Williams (@ash30)

Dancing with the Stars: All Stars (@DancingABC) | #DWTS: 8-10pm ET


Tom Bergeron (@Tom_Bergeron), Brooke Burke (@brookeburke), Karina Smirnoff (@karina_smirnoff), Cheryl Burke (@CherylBurke), and the entire All Stars cast will be live-tweeting


Partners (@Partners_CBS) | #Partners, #4People3Couples: 8:30pm ET



Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush)

David Krumholtz (@DaveKrumholtz)

Brandon Routh (@BrandonJRouth)

Michael Urie (@michaelurie)


2 Broke Girls (@2BrokeGirls_CBS) | #2BrokeGirls, #BackNStillBroke: 9pm ET


Beth Behrs (@BethBehrs)


Mike & Molly (@MikeMolly_CBS) | 
#MikeandMolly, #HoneymoonOver: 9:30pm ET

Reno Wilson (@R2theENO)



Hawaii Five-0 (@HawaiiFive0_CBS) | #H50, #McGsMom: 10pm ET

Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim)

Michelle Borth (@michelleborth)

Masi Oka (@MasiOka)

Executive Producer Peter Lenkov (@PLenkov)


Castle (@Castle_ABC) | #Castle: 10-11:00pm PT
Tamala Jones (@tamalajones)


TUESDAY (Sept. 25)

NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) | #NCIS, #GibbsvsDearing: 8pm ET

Pauley Perrette (@PauleyP)

Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly)

Sean Murray (@SeanHMurray)

Brian Dietzen (@BrianDietzen)

Dancing with the Stars - Results (@DancingABC) | #DWTS: 8-10pm ET

Follow the dancing All-Stars to see their reactions to the results.

NCIS: Los Angeles (@NCISLA_CBS) | #NCISLA, #CallenSuspended: 9pm ET

Daniela Ruah (@DanielaRuah)

Eric Christian Olsen (@ericcolsen)



Vegas (@Vegas_CBS) | #Vegas, #Battle4Vegas: 10pm ET

Jason O'Mara (@jason_omara)

Taylor Handley (@TaylorLHandley)

Private Practice (@PrivatePractice) | #PrivatePractice: 10-11pm, ET
Kate Walsh (@katewalsh)


WEDNESDAY (Sept. 26)

CSI  (@CSI_CBS) | #CSI, #FindRussellsGranddaughter: 7pm ET

Elisabeth Harnois (@ElisabethHarnoi)

Writer Chris Barbour (@CSIWritersRoom)

The Middle (@TheMiddle_ABC) | #TheMiddle: 8-9pm PT
Charlie McDermott (@charliemcdrmott)

Survivor: Philippines (@Survivor_Tweet) | #Survivor: 8pm ET

Challenge Producer John Kirhoffer (@Survivor_Tweet)

Modern Family (@ModernFam) | #ModernFamily: 9-9:30pm ET
Sofia Vergara (@SofiaVergara)

Criminal Minds (@CrimMinds_CBS) | #CriminalMinds, #SilenceIsDeadly: 9pm ET

Joe Mantegna (@JoeMantegna)

Executive Producer Erica Messer (@CM_SetReport)

The Neighbors (@TheNeighborsABC) | #TheNeighbors: 9:30-10pm PT
Toks Olagundoye (@ToksOlagundoye)


THURSDAY (Sept. 27)
Last Resort (@LastResort_ABC) | #LastResort: 8-9pm ET
Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV)
Karl Gajdusek, @KarlGajdusek

Big Bang Theory (@BigBang_CBS) | #BigBangTheory, #ThirdWheelRaj: 8:00pm ET

Melissa Rauch (@ReallyRauch)



Two & A Half Men (@TwoHalfMen_CBS) | #TwoAndAHalfMen, #WhenAManLovesAWoman: 8:30pm ET

Angus Jones (@therealatj)

Grey’s Anatomy (@GreysABC) | #GreysAnatomy: 9:00-10:02pm PT
Kevin McKidd, @TheRealKMcKidd

Person Of Interest (@PersonInterest) | #PersonOfInterest, #WheresFinch: 9:00pm ET

Executive Producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman (@PersonInterest)



Elementary (@Elementary_CBS) | #Elementary, #Sherlock: 10pm ET

Executive Producer Rob Doherty and Co-Executive Producer/Writer Corinne Brinkerhoff (@ElementaryStaff)

Scandal (@ScandalABC) | #Scandal: 10-11pm PT
Bellamy Young, @BellamyYoung
Columbus Short, @ColumbusShort1
Darby Stanchfield, @darbystnchfld
Guillermo Diaz, @guillermodiazyo
Jeff Perry, @jscandalp
Josh Malina, @JoshMalina
Katie Lowes, @KatieQLowes
Kerry Washington, @kerrywashington
Tony Goldwyn, @tonygoldwyn

FRIDAY (Sept. 28)

CSI: NY (@CSINYC_CBS) | #CSINY, #MacIsBack: 8pm ET

Eddie Cahill (@EddiePCahill)

Executive Producer Zachary Reiter (@CSINY_CBS)



Made In Jersey (@MadeInJerseyCBS) | #MadeInJersey, #JerseyGirl: 9pm ET

Toni Trucks (@ToniTrucks)

Creator Dana Calvo (@MadeInJerseyCBS)



Blue Bloods (@BlueBloods_CBS) 10pm ET

Donnie Wahlberg (@DonnieWahlberg)

#BlueBloods, #DannyInTrouble

SUNDAY (Sept. 30)
Once Upon A Time (@OnceABC) | #OnceUponATime: 8-9pm ET
Ginnifer Goodwin, @ginnygoodwin

Revenge (@Revenge) | #Revenge: 9-10pm ET
Gabriel Mann, @Gabriel_Mann

666 Park Avenue (@666ParkAve_ABC) | #666ParkAve: 10-11pm ET
Vanessa Williams, @vwofficial


Tune in to these shows and Twitter all week to hear more insider perspectives from TV’s biggest stars - and tune back into the blog next Monday to find out what’s on next week’s Twitter TV lineup! 



Posted by Kate Bowen, TV Partnerships (@kateb)

This week our Tokyo team launched Lifeline. It’s a new feature for Japanese users that helps people there find critical information when they need it most: during moments of crisis like natural disasters, or when other communications services are difficult to reach.

To find and follow essential local accounts in Japan, people simply search their postal code on twitter.com. If there’s an earthquake in the Aobadai district of Yokohama, for instance, people can use Lifeline to find a variety of timely accounts — those tweeting about the earthquake and sharing updates from the district (Aobadai), city (Yokohama), and prefecture (Kanagawa) governments; they can also find accounts from local media and utility companies providing information about gas, water or electricity. Of course, Japanese users can also set up notifications to receive Tweets from these accounts on their mobile devices.

Lifeline is currently available only in Japan, where we have joined the Prime Minister’s Lifeline Commission and worked with local and regional governments to surface the best, most relevant accounts for several postal codes. Since Twitter often becomes a de facto lifeline during crises everywhere, we hope to eventually expand this functionality to more locations around the world.

Posted by Jinen Kamdar @jinen
Product Manager

Rolling out the #Emmys Red Carpet twitter.com/PrimetimeEmmys…
— Television Academy (@PrimetimeEmmys) September 19, 2012

TV Partnerships

Journalists and news publishers have long sought the best ways to create engagement on Twitter and make the most of every Tweet - and we want to help. We've created a set of best practices for journalists and newsrooms that can help you increase follower growth and engagement on Twitter, based on extensive research by our Platform and Analytics teams.

 The team analyzed thousands of Tweets from more than 150 news brands and individual reporters around the world, determining four specific areas of focus: tweet your beat, use hashtags for context, @ cite your sources, and share what you’re reading.

1. Tweet your beat 
One of the best ways to increase Twitter engagement is to Tweet regularly about the subjects you cover. Our research shows that for people who post a concentrated number of Tweets in a short time span, follower growth is 50% more than average (1.5x). Live-tweeting or posting updates about a news event related to your beat is one way to grow followers and increase interaction. 

During a tornado last year, @TuscaloosaNews tweeted minute-by-minute updates, including pointers to emergency resources. For this effort, the newsroom was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News.

Per @tuscaloosacity, Mayor Walt Maddox has received confirmation of 32 deaths and 400 injuries in the wake of yesterday's tornado.
— tuscaloosanews (@tuscaloosanews) April 28, 2011

When crime reporter Sara Ganim (@SGanim) from the central Pennsylvania Patriot-News tweeted the Jerry Sandusky trial, she saw a 2,000 follower spike. Twitter users who continue to live-tweet news relevant to their beat often see a steady stream of new followers.

Jurors, after seeing a reenactment of mike mcquearys testimony, are back in the deliberation room. #SanduskyTrial
— Sara Ganim (@sganim) June 22, 2012

2. Use hashtags for context 
Tweets with hashtags (the # symbol, immediately followed by the subject or keyword related to the Tweet) can increase engagement almost 100% (2x) for individuals and 50% (1.5x) for brands. Journalists and news publishers use hashtags to organize conversations, gather feedback, and to identify and engage with Twitter users discussing a particular topic.

Fox News (@FoxNews) uses hashtags to identify the subject of its Tweets and to participate in the Twitter conversation about that person, place, thing or event.

#DNC refuses to reimburse #Connecticut town for thousands of dollars of overtime costs during #Obama visit fxn.ws/PxbTt2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 22, 2012

@CBSChicago uses hashtags to group Tweets into a conversation that makes it easy to follow or engage with. For example, the #DrewPeterson hashtag was included in the Tweet below to identify news related to the local trial. When you include hashtags in your Tweets, your Tweets become more visible, and over time you gather more Twitter followers.

The testimony that lead defense to once again seek a mistrial in #DrewPeterson case. Read it here: cbsloc.al/TBzMzO
— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) August 14, 2012

3. @Cite your sources 
When tweeting about or to a Twitter user (individual or brand), include their Twitter handle (the @ sign, followed by the username). Brands that tweet 20% fewer URLs and 100% more @mentions grow followers 17% more than average. What that tells us is to mix up your Tweets so your feed isn’t just links to your stories. Post tweets that include URLs, but also tweets with @mentions, and tweets with no links at all.

Inside Breaking News (@breaking) frequently includes the Twitter handle of the source of the links, photos or videos in its Tweets. Including the Twitter handle of your sources can increase follower growth and engagement.

Moscow police arrest 10 environmental activists, 4 dressed in polar bear costumes, at Gazprom's Moscow office - @ap photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/…
— Inside Breaking News (@breaking) September 5, 2012

4. Share what you're reading 
News accounts receive 100% more (2x) active engagement on a high-performing Tweet when a URL is included. To increase the engagement on your account and Tweets, mix it up a bit: when individuals share URLs to non-company sources, they experience a bump in follows. Among those who share links to content not generated in their newsrooms are The New York Times' Brian Stelter (@brianstelter), MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (@maddow), and The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal (@alexismadrigal).

WSJ profile of @ryanseacrest reveals he recently "started waking up later: at 5 a.m." on.wsj.com/PQUDPD
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 31, 2012

If you have Memorial Day off on Monday, read this before you leave for the weekend: is.gd/JvcJpW
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) May 25, 2012

Use the Retweet button as a tool to curate content for your followers. Individuals with above expected follower growth send 200% more retweets (3X) compared to individuals with below expected follower growth. For example, The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) has a high rate of Twitter engagement because she shares interesting content she has come across. 



In summary, here are ways journalists and news publishers can increase follower growth and Twitter engagement, based on our research: 

• Tweet content related to your beat; live-tweet  
• Use hashtags for context and @cite your sources 
• Share what you're reading with your Twitter followers
• Use the Retweet button to curate 

You’ll find additional resources at bit.ly/TwitterForNews and by following @TwitterForNews. If you’re in town for the ONA conference, we hope to get a chance to meet!

Posted Mark Luckie, Creative Content Manager for Journalism & News (@marksluckie)

2012 NFL season sets record for most 1-1 teams nfl.com/news/story/0ap…
— NFL: AroundTheLeague (@NFL_ATL) September 17, 2012

Welcome to #SNF #DETvsSF it's game time! Let's go @detroitlionsnfl #ROAR
— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) September 17, 2012

Can we please work harder to end this replacement referee insanity?
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 16, 2012

Finally, the week wrapped up with @M_ryan02 getting his first #MNF victory and keeping his team atop the #NFL:

Today you can download the new Twitter for iPad. We’ve rebuilt the app from the ground up to make it fast, beautiful and easy to use. Twitter for iPad brings you closer to what’s happening all over the world, and makes it easy to keep up with the news you need to read, the photos you want to see and the people you follow.

Home

Tweets come alive in the new Twitter for iPad. Expand Tweets with a single touch to see beautiful photos, rich videos and web page summaries right in your timeline. Dive into the content with another tap to see the photo, play the video or read links from the web in fullscreen mode.

Connect

Keep conversations going by tracking your interactions with other people: See who has followed or mentioned you, retweeted or favorited your Tweets.

Discover

Tap into a stream of useful and entertaining information personalized for you. Read news stories that are popular within your network, see which Tweets and accounts are favorited and followed by the people you know, see what topics are trending, and find great new accounts to follow.

Me

Express yourself by adding a beautiful new header photo to your new profile. It appears consistently above your Tweets on iPad, mobile apps and twitter.com, and you can change it anytime. You can also remember the moments you’ve shared on Twitter by swiping through your photo stream on your profile or tapping photos to go fullscreen.

Posted by Sung Hu Kim @sunghu
Product Manager