Elon Musk reveals why he is rebranding Twitter to X – as police disrupt firm’s signal removing
Elon Musk has stated the Twitter identify “does not make sense” as he rebrands the platform into an “everything app” known as X.
The world’s richest man has not been shy of placing his personal stamp on the location he bought for $44bn (£38bn) last October and has now launched into probably the most dramatic change in its 16-year historical past.
Musk spent the weekend teasing an imminent reinvention and unveiled a new name and logo yesterday.
His need to impose sweeping modifications to such a recognisable social media model prompted confusion, however the SpaceX and Tesla proprietor defended the transfer in a late evening tweet.
“The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video,” he stated.
“In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world.
“The Twitter identify doesn’t make sense in that context, so we should bid adieu to the chicken.”
Earlier, Musk had declared tweets now be often called x’s.
What is ‘the every thing app’?
Musk has lengthy spoken of his need to show Twitter into an “everything app” modelled on China’s WeChat.
It combines options like messaging, funds, a market, and public posts into one place.
Musk stated he purchased Twitter “as an accelerant for X”, a letter with clear sentimental worth to him.
Not solely is it a part of the identify of his rocket agency, but in addition one of his children; a man-made intelligence start-up he launched earlier this 12 months; and an internet financial institution he co-founded in 1999 that later grew to become PayPal.
Experts have advised the Twitter change is as a lot about tying it to Musk’s private model as the rest.
Read extra:
Why rebranding Twitter will be an enormous challenge
Elon Musk took over Twitter in October final 12 months
Rapid modifications at HQ
The rebrand has not simply been mirrored on Twitter’s website and app, but in addition at its San Francisco headquarters, the place Musk had the brand new emblem beamed on to the constructing.
Workers have been seen eradicating the Twitter signal from exterior on Monday, however have been briefly held up by police.
Witnesses stated officers informed them Musk’s firm hadn’t acquired a allow for the crane to be on website, however the delay was later put all the way down to a “misunderstanding”.
Local police informed The San Francisco Standard: “At approximately 12:39pm, officers assigned to Tenderloin Station responded to the area of 10th and Market Street regarding a report of a possible unpermitted street closure.
“Officers have been capable of decide that no crime was dedicated, and this incident was not a police matter.”
Inside the constructing, remaining references to Twitter and its iconic emblem have additionally reportedly been eliminated.
A statue of the blue chicken was among the items put up for auction earlier this year as Musk appeared to chop prices, having already sacked thousands of staff.
On Monday, The New York Times reported X logos have been projected within the constructing’s canteen, whereas convention rooms have been renamed to phrases with X in them – together with “eXposure” and “s3Xy”.
Musk, who’s 52, has a historical past of constructing jokes referencing internet memes about sex and drugs.
Twitter’s new emblem projected on the company headquarters
Another rival emerges?
As Twitter’s rebrand acquired below approach, TikTok revealed it had added the flexibility for customers to submit textual content updates.
The Chinese-owned app is greatest identified for short-form video, however has beforehand branched out into photograph sharing.
The textual content choice offers folks “another way to express themselves”, the corporate stated.
It represents yet one more direct rival to X, which is already heading off competitors from the likes of Meta’s Threads, which grew to become the fastest growing app in history earlier this month.
Some customers and advertisers have been wanting elsewhere resulting from Musk’s many modifications, which have included locking verification ticks behind a paywall, reinstating banned accounts reminiscent of that of Andrew Tate, and applying reading limits.
His free stance on moderation has contributed to Twitter dropping virtually half of its promoting income, with the corporate unprofitable and in heavy debt.