Darrick Thomas Email & Phone Number

California, United States

San Francisco Bay Area

At Meta, I lead a team of content experts across a variety of incubator and established workstreams aimed at improving the user experience and ultimately scaling quality and context across the Meta family of apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Horizon, and more. Our work prioritizes innovation, quality at scale, experimentation, and a deep cultural understanding of on- and off-platform events and moments. More specifically, I: - Craft content strategies for established and incubator products across Meta - Develop curation workflows for the launch of internal testing plans and new consumer-facing products- Work with ML engineers and data scientists to source/curate golden sets designed to improve existing content recommendation models- Test content hypotheses born out of UXR and editorial insights, using results and findings to make data-backed decisions and iterate on existing strategies- Develop scaled rating rubrics, content principles and taxonomies that serve to operationalize our work at scale- Manage a team of full-time employees and contractors, prioritizing the growth of their skills and career development- Work hard to foster a team culture that values creativity, honesty, vulnerability, inclusion and ideation

I was hired to help launch one of Twitter’s first large-scale editorial efforts: Moments. As the first Moments curator on the team, I was instrumental in developing the style, standards and workflow of what Moments and broader Curation have become, covering verticals ranging from breaking news, to sports, to politics, to entertainment and internet culture. After four years in the role, I was tapped to join a committee designed to connect the Product side of the company with the Content side, serving as an incubator for new features, product literacy liaison for the Curation team and tester for Engineering’s products in their pre-beta stages.I also:- Developed and executed strategy and content plans for tent-pole events, such as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Oscars, Olympics, World Cup and more- Led the curation team in number of Moments produced on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis- Co-authored and operated the @TwitterMoments social account (800k followers)- Helped the Moments audience grow beyond 20M mDAUs- Trained and mentored new curators as part of their on-boarding process- Worked with dev, design and product teams to iterate on the look and feel of the Moments and Events platforms- Worked cross-functionally with Social, Marketing, Content Partnerships and other teams to execute coverage strategies, activations and integrations on the platform

San Francisco Bay Area

In the role of Interactives Editor at Zimbio, I was charged with to creating fresh and engaging content, with a focus on virality and playability. From trivia, to personality quizzes, to name generators, to custom Twitter Q&As, and beyond, I spearhead the conceptualization and implementation of our interactive features. I also:• Work directly with the Engineering, Development, and Design teams to create and execute new content formats• Spin pop culture news and tentpole properties and events into dynamic, share-worthy experiences (e.g. The Game of Thrones Warrior Name generator, 10+ million plays, 5+ million Facebook/Twitter shares)• Create content and tell stories using a variety of media, including photos, GIFs, tweets, Vines, music, and video• Lead the editorial effort on projects large and small, from the development of new products/tools to graphic design, and beyond

San Francisco Bay Area

My last role at Zimbio, primarily involved generating a ton of content in the pop culture sphere (music, movies, TV, celebrity, and Internet trends). My strength at Zimbio continues to be treating a seemingly pedestrian topic with a unique and fresh perspective, to go beyond the headline and create something fun, fresh, and hopefully funny. I also:• Manage our freelance contributors• Contribute to overall editorial strategy and planning (site design, engineering upgrades, collective voice)• Write upwards of 35 pieces of content a week, including blog-type news posts, features, listicles, and themed slideshows