“What’s in a name?” That’s what TikTok’s chief operating officer, Vanessa Pappas, pondered in an extended tweet thread (opens in new tab) on Monday discussing the role of gender identity and pronouns in their personal and professional lives.
Pappas announced on Twitter and LinkedIn (opens in new tab) that they go by V in their personal life and had recently started using they/them pronouns. In the string of tweets, which has garnered tens of thousands of views, Pappas also shared that they identify as “both a woman and non-binary (opens in new tab)” and pansexual.
They also said that they decided to talk publicly about their gender identity and pronouns after extended conversations with their spouse and children (opens in new tab) “about the importance of recognizing diversity across sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, gender, age, socio-economic status, personal abilities, political backgrounds etc.”
The COO also hoped that openly discussing their pronouns on social media would bring visibility about gender-affirming language to the workplace and reflect TikTok’s inclusive values.