Elon Musk Introduces ‘X’ Logo as Old Twitter Logo Flies the Coop in A Radical Rebranding
Elon Musk may be a tech genius who founded Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX and currently the richest man in the world, but the man also has many eccentricities, as proved in the past. He plans to build a human colony on Mars and named his daughter X Æ A-12, or X for short which inspired memes across the globe with her name being changed to ‘Xii’ later on due to a violation of California naming laws. Musk appears to have such an affection for the letter that he has also officially changed Twitter’s name to ‘X’.
X Marks the Spot
Musk’s longstanding fixation with the letter X was seen through his very first startup X.com which went on to be PayPal after a merger. He also launched an artificial intelligent app xAI and one of Tesla’s earliest models is named Model X. Six years ago, he regained ownership of X.com.
Musk’s Takeover
Twitter, which was founded in 2006, was taken over by Musk in October 2022 for US$44 billion (approximately RM200.75 billion). He has since introduced a series of reforms and management changes, many of which have been controversial. According to The New York Times, roughly half of its employees had been let go in November 2022 before some of them were asked to return to the company later.
Musk has also instituted a plan that charged personal users US$8 (RM36.50) per month to get a "verified" blue badge and US$1,000 (RM4562.50) per month for an organisational gold badge
‘X’ Logo Unveiled
In April 2023, he formally changed Twitter’s legal name to X Corp.
On 23 July, Musk tweeted the following:
And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
On 24 July, Musk tweeted that ‘X.com now points to twitter.com’. “Interim X logo goes live later today,” he wrote. The website now features a giant X, with traces of the familiar blue bird being removed from the page.
https://t.co/bOUOek5Cvy now points to https://t.co/AYBszklpkE.Interim X logo goes live later today.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
He also tweeted an image of their headquarters with their new logo projected over it two hours after midnight.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
Linda Yaccarino, who was appointed as Twitter's chief executive in May, spoke about the rebranding in a series of tweets. She said that ‘X’ would go further than Twitter in changing the way people communicated by “transforming the global town square”.
She added, ‘X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.’
X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 23, 2023
More Xs
The New York Times has reported that at the headquarters, conference rooms have been renamed to incorporate the letter X with names such as ‘s3xy’, while another is called ‘eXposure’.
It is unclear who owns the Twitter account with the handle @x, and if it is someone other than Musk, other users have said that the billionaire may pay an extortionate amount for it.
— Fozail Farooquee (@FozailFarooquee) July 24, 2023
X Rebranding Hits Faces Snag
During the process of the removal of Twitter’s sign from the HQ, authorities intervened to halt the unauthorised work due to a lack of permits for the equipment used, but later went on to say that no crime had been committed.
UPDATE: SF Police Stop Twitter RemovalSan Francisco Police shut down the attempt to remove Twitter’s logo from the San Francisco HQ after @elonmusk had not applied the relevant permits needed for the equipment used to remove the logo. pic.twitter.com/IavxdXApMZ— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) July 24, 2023
Reactions
Many users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the news. “Name a bigger downgrade”, one wrote, while posting images of the former and current logo.
name a bigger downgrade pic.twitter.com/ueEpYnLxle— Dabsyboi (@Dabsyboi) July 23, 2023
Another user was sarcastic about what a ‘Tweet’ would be now called, giving suggestions of ‘Post? X-post? Xost?
I am not sure how it will be called now! Post? X-post? Xost?— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) July 23, 2023
Others were dumbfounded as to why Musk would change the name of one of the best-known brands on the planet which is even used as a verb.
One of the best-known brands on the planet. People use Tweet as a verb on par with "I'll Google that" and you decided to rebrand to X?Lord... pic.twitter.com/eStK4bFpfK— Just Talk Wrestling (@JustTalkWrestle) July 23, 2023
Image credit: @lindayacc