When tycoon Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, he heralded sweeping changes by immediately firing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other top executives.
Just nine months later, he’s perhaps made the biggest change of all by changing its logo to just an “X”.
Source: Elon Musk on X
In the process, he has gotten rid of the social media platform’s iconic bird logo.
The new logo was revealed by Mr Mush in a simple post on Monday (24 July), which carried the letter “X” in a distinctive art deco font.
Source: Elon Musk on X
He also changed his profile photo to the same “X” with a black background.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino also announced the change in a post on the same day, saying, “Let’s do this.”
To drive the point home, the new logo was projected onto Twitter headquarters.
Source: Linda Yaccarino on X
The default platform colour has also been changed to black, a move he teased on Sunday as the result of a poll.
Source: Elon Musk on X
Rather than just a change in logo, it’s become apparent that Twitter is undergoing a rebranding.
In a series of posts earlier in the day, Ms Yaccarino said X will “go further” than Twitter, becoming “the future state of unlimited interactivity”.
Besides messaging and audiovisual communication, the company will also move into payments and banking, “creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities”, she added.
Source: Linda Yaccarino on X
They’re “just getting started”, she noted, as there’s “no limit” to the platform’s transformation into one that can deliver “everything”.
The new concept is reportedly modelled on China’s WeChat, which apart from messaging lets users perform functions like ordering a taxi and making payments.
Last June, Mr Musk was quoted by The Verge as telling his staff,
You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success.
This radical rebranding also comes with a new domain name, X.com.
The URL will now lead to Twitter’s homepage, Mr Musk also said on Monday.
Source: Elon Musk on X
After taking over Twitter last year, he established X Corp, which succeeded Twitter Inc. as the company that owns Twitter. X Corp is a subsidiary of X Holdings Corp, which is owned by Mr Musk.
Earlier this month, he also announced that he was forming an artificial intelligence (AI) company called xAI.
By now, you might notice that Mr Musk really likes the letter “X”.
The tycoon, who’s also Tesla CEO, admitted this himself on Sunday (23 July), sharing a photo of himself posing in front of the Tesla Model X logo.
Source: Elon Musk on X
His love for the letter seems to have started some time ago. Way back in back 2002, he founded a spacecraft manufacturer and named it SpaceX.
Just one day before making these announcements, Mr Musk previewed what was to come when he posted that the world will soon bid adieu to the Twitter brand.
This includes “all the birds”, he said.
Source: Elon Musk on X
He was ostensibly referring to the iconic blue bird logo that has been the recognisable symbol of the brand since almost the very beginning.
Source: Brett Jordan on Unsplash
With this major change, we can also expect the platform to henceforth go by the name “X” instead of “Twitter” from now on.
However, the bird is still visible on the platform — though this might not be for long.
What do you think of the rebranding of Twitter? Will you ever get used to calling it “X”? Do share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Linda Yaccarino on X and Elon Musk on X.
He will oversee both M1's and Keppel's Data Centres and Networks business.
His company will help out CPT Tay's parents, whose savings are running low, he said.
One netizen said they looked like an alien.
Crowds were mesmerized by the sight.
Guests reportedly included SM Lee Hsien Loong, ESM Goh Chok Tong, former military chief Winston…
The fitting name for his degree? Doctor in Litter-ature.