Social media is up for another swapping action as one "bird" executive is set to fly to the nest of its direct competitor.
We are talking about ex-Twitter executive Kevin Weil, who is reportedly joining photo-sharing app Instagram as head of product soon.
Weil is assumed to report directly to Instagram's co-founder and chief excutive Kevin Systrom should the reports ring true.
The exact date of Weil's possible start with the company has not yet been confirmed. Definitely, it is not going to be this week yet because according to an SEC filing, Weil will stay with Twitter until Jan. 29.
Weil announced his departure from Twitter on Sunday night. Reports say the timing is just right because Peter Deng, Instagram's two-year product head, has just jumped to another Facebook product, Oculus, in early January.
With this, Instagram's head of product position is technically vacant at the moment.
Weil is not the only executive to depart Twitter recently. VP of engineering Alex Roetter and media boss Katie Stanton are set to fly out of the nest as well. Both had tenure of more than five years with Twitter. VP for Human resources Skip Schipper will leave the company as well.
Roetter was said to have alerted Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in late 2015 following the company's reorganization.
Dorsey said the departures were resignations, contrary to speculations that the execs were terminated. He expressed his gratitude to the four executives in a tweet on Sunday. "They are absolutely amazing!" he writes.
If the events would be timed and analyzed, the possibility that Instagram has been recruiting Weil for months appears to back up Dorsey's resignation statement. Such event may also be the reason why sources inside Twitter say Weil's duties were cut back following the series of employee layoffs in October 2015.
Spokespersons from Twitter, Instagram and Weil himself are yet to comment on the matter.
Weil joined Twitter in 2009. He worked his way up during his years with the company, resulting in his promotion as senior vice president for product. He directly reports to the firm's highest execs.
Instagram has grown through the years. The company claims that its active monthly users have risen to about 400 million. Twitter once targeted to purchase Instagram even before Facebook bought in 2012.
