Yes, I know, it’s been a long time coming. But, it’s time. Twitter is finally becoming X.
It seems like the writing has been on the wall for a while now with Elon Musk taking over the company last year. However, after what seems to be the most unusually tumultuous buyout ever, the day has finally come – the iconic blue bird logo is being retired for an “X”. The Twitter rebrand exercise was kicked into high gear three months ago with Elon Musk officially replacing the Twitter company with X Corp. [I know it weirdly sounds like LexCorp and we all know what happened with that company in Superman.]
The change has already taken effect with the x.com domain leading to twitter.com. The logo has also been changed to the “X” logo. This comes after Elon Musk tweeted, “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds”. Even the official Twitter account is now an X although its handle is still @Twitter.
So, What Happens Now?
Well, that’s just it, aside from some grandiose words from both Elon Musk and newly instated CEO, Linda Yaccarino, we don’t really know. While Elon Musk has had a long history with the brand, it’s not much to go on. He’s used “X” in many of his other undertakings like SpaceX and xAI. His first startup in 1999 was x.com.
In an internal memo from Yaccarino to Twitter staff published by CNBC, she refers to the rebranding as a second chance for the company once known as Twitter to make a big impression. In the same statement, she highlights that X will be moving at lightspeed with an inventor mindset – “constantly learning, testing out new approaches, changing to get it right and ultimately succeeding.”. This could mean that we’re about to go for a real roller coaster ride with X and what’s coming for the remnants of Twitter.
However, if anything, it seems like Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino will be taking Twitter and turning it into a global version of WeChat – a one-stop app for everything or as companies like Grab and AirAsia like to put it a “super-app”. Elon envisions X as the “everything app” and we get a glimpse of the future in the internal memo from Yaccarino, she says that X will “continue to delight our entire community with new experiences in audio, video, messaging, payments, banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
It seems like this is already underway in the U.S. with X Corp filing for the relevant regulatory approvals months ago. That said, it’s an end of an era with Twitter officially being wiped off the face of the living internet. After more than 15 years, one of the most iconic internet companies and platforms has been put down. That said, we don’t know what’s in store for X and X Corp as Elon has hinted at improvements and refinements in the near future.