Elon Musk said Twitter’s name “doesn’t make sense” as he rebranded the platform as an “app for everything” called X.
The world’s richest man isn’t shy about making his mark on the site In October last year he bought a $44bn (£38bn) It has now embarked on the most dramatic transformation in its 16-year history.
musk Teased about the upcoming makeover all weekend The new name and logo were announced yesterday.
His desire to overhaul such a well-known social media brand has caused confusion, but SpaceX and tesla The owners defended the move in a late-night tweet.
“this Twitter Names made sense when there were only 140-character messages passing back and forth — like a bird chirping — but now you can post almost anything, including hours of video,” he said.
“Over the next few months, we’ll be adding comprehensive communications and the ability to manage your entire financial world.
“Twitter’s name doesn’t make sense in this context, so we have to say goodbye to the bird.”
Earlier, Musk tweeted what is now known as x.
What is the “everything app”?
Musk has long said he wants to turn Twitter into a An “everything app” modeled after China’s WeChat.
It combines messaging, payments, marketplaces, and public posts into one place.
Musk said he bought Twitter “as an accelerator for X,” and the letter clearly has sentimental value for him.
Not only is it part of his rocket company’s name, but one of his children; he founded an artificial intelligence startup earlier this year; he co-founded an online bank in 1999 that became PayPal.
Experts say Twitter’s changes were made not just to tie it to Musk’s personal brand, but to others as well.
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Why rebranding Twitter will be a big challenge
Elon Musk took over Twitter last October
Rapid changes at headquarters
The rebranding is not only reflected in Twitter’s website and app, but also in its San Francisco headquarters, where Musk projected the new logo onto the building.
Workers were seen removing the Twitter sign from outside on Monday but were briefly stopped by police.
Witnesses said officials told them Musk’s company hadn’t yet received permission for the crane to be on site, but later attributed the delay to a “misunderstanding.”
Local police told the San Francisco Standard: “At approximately 12:39 p.m., officers assigned to Tenderloin Station responded to the 10th Street and Market Street area with reports of a possible unauthorized street closure.
“Police have determined that no crime has taken place and this incident has nothing to do with police.”
The remaining Twitter and its iconic logo in the building have also reportedly been removed.
blue bird statue was one of the items auctioned earlier this year If Musk wants to cut costs, he’s already Thousands of employees were fired.
On Monday, The New York Times reported that the building’s cafeteria was projected with an X logo, while meeting rooms were renamed with words with an X in it, including “eXposure” and “s3Xy.”
Musk, 52, has a history of joking Quote Internet memes about sex and drugs.
Twitter’s new logo projected on company headquarters
Another opponent appeared?
If Twitter’s rebranding gets underway, Tik Tok revealed that it added the ability for users to post text updates.
The China-owned app is best known for short videos but has ventured into photo-sharing before.
The text option gives people “another way to express themselves,” the company said.
It represents another direct competitor to X, which is already fending off competition from the likes of Meta. Threadswhich becomes The fastest growing app in history at the beginning of the month.
Because of Musk’s many changes, some users and advertisers have been looking elsewhere, including Lock verification ticks behind a paywallto recover a banned account, e.g. andrew tateand Apply reading restrictions.
His lax stance on moderation has caused Twitter to lose nearly half of its ad revenue and the company is unprofitable and heavily in debt.