Esteemed business leader and technology innovator, Elon Musk, has stunned the world by announcing an abrupt rebranding of Twitter, a social media platform he acquired late last year. The new brand name, according to Musk’s announcement, is ‘X’.
The news, revealed in a series of tweets, marks yet another pivotal turn in Musk’s leadership of the struggling platform. Twitter, facing a dwindling user base and fierce competition, was ripe for change, and change it did.
The high-profile CEO hinted on Sunday morning that the recognizable blue bird symbolizing Twitter would soon be replaced with a simple ‘X’.
He underscored that the rebranding is more than mere symbolism; it’s an overhaul of the platform’s identity, slated to take effect as early as the next day.
As the digital world engaged in a heated debate over the validity of Musk’s announcement, he affirmed his intent, stating that the URL X.com now redirects to Twitter’s homepage. “X.com now points to https://twitter.com/,” Musk confirmed.
Musk also assured his followers that the interim X logo will debut later in the day, inviting suggestions and feedback for the logo’s final design. Many took to his thread with innovative ideas, while others expressed their skepticism about the changes, particularly how the term ‘tweeting’ would adapt to the new branding.
In response to the wave of uncertainty, Musk engaged his followers in a light-hearted conversation, asking, “What should we call tweeting?” The responses were varied, ranging from ‘Xweeting’ to ‘Xpressing,’ embodying the innovative spirit of Musk’s audience.
The new logo for Twitter was a hot topic of conversation, and Musk was seen steering the discourse. He shared photos symbolizing the letter ‘X’ and announced that the Twitter brand and its bird emblem will gradually be phased out.
Aiming to empower the crowd, Musk declared, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make it go live worldwide tomorrow.” He encouraged prospective designers to align with the Art Deco style, sharing a mockup of the future logo: a darkened version of the current Twitter bird, replaced by an ‘X’.
One of the early entrants in this crowd-sourced logo competition was a flickering ‘X’ submitted by Sawyer Merritt, co-founder of a sustainable clothing brand, and designed by Alex Tourville, a physics engineer. However, it is yet to be confirmed if this particular design will represent the new face of the company.
The renaming of Twitter as ‘X’ follows a series of other monumental changes under Musk’s leadership. There have been ups and downs, including criticism for layoffs and the decision to monetize the ‘verified’ blue check status.
Musk is also embarking on new milestones such as the launch of his new artificial intelligence startup, xAI.
The launch of rival app Threads by Meta has also put additional pressure on Twitter, which has now threatened to sue the company for allegedly stolen trade secrets.
Despite the uncertainty and skepticism, Musk seems undeterred in his quest to redefine Twitter, challenging conventional norms of social media platforms.
Only time will tell if this risky venture revitalizes the platform, or proves to be a miscalculation.
