TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Nov 14, 2024

Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted on Sunday, clarifying that: “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live [sic] worldwide tomorrow.”

The global social media landscape witnessed a seismic shift as Elon Musk, the controversial tech billionaire, took to Twitter to announce the platform's impending transformation. "And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk tweeted enigmatically, hinting at the transition from Twitter to X.com. He then invoked the creativity of the users, stating, "If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make [it] go live worldwide tomorrow."

Musk's Ambitions for X.com Met with Obstacles and Missteps

Elon Musk aims to boost the user base of the popular platform by adding useful applications, emulating the spectacular success of China's WeChat. This vision is indeed interesting and based on sound business logic, but it suffers from numerous problems and obstacles. The first obstacle is Musk's lack of understanding of the internet business.

The immense value that Twitter held before Musk's acquisition was the direct use of the platform by politicians, corporate executives, and social influencers to establish a direct, unmediated connection with their audience. It revolutionized the communication market, transforming Twitter into a pioneer of direct communication that replaced the communication through opinion intermediaries, journalists who controlled what the public knew and what to hide from it.

Elon Musk, in a completely foolish move, demanded all the important people who had turned Twitter into their communication tool with their massive audience, to pay for Twitter to fulfill its obligation - to verify the identity of users and prevent impersonating accounts. Most of the politicians and company executives did not pay, they stopped using the platform, and Elon Musk lost twice. He lost the money they did not pay, and he lost them as suppliers of reliable, quality, direct, immediate content with significant journalistic and communication value.

To this foolish mistake, Elon Musk added the error of using so-called security advisors and services, which in fact act as double agents and assure Twitter's destruction by imposing shadowbans on important, creative, original, critical users with very important news value.

Thus, Twitter users are prevented from being exposed to innovative and original opinion leaders, as those supposed security services prevent them from exposure due to strange and invalid considerations that completely contradict both the interests of Twitter and Elon Musk's declared policy of allowing freedom of expression.


X.com - a bird without wings.


However, in a subsequent Twitter Spaces audio chat, Musk further confirmed the planned rebranding. The move, he argued, was long overdue and should have taken place much earlier.

As news of the rebranding swept across the platform, thousands of users rose to the challenge, posting potential logos by the dozens. Many designs cleverly incorporated elements of Twitter's iconic bird logo, even as Musk hinted at its gradual phase-out. The move has sparked debate, given Twitter's self-admitted recognition that its bird logo is its "most recognizable asset."

The transformation follows the April merger of Twitter with Musk's X Corp, which effectively dissolved Twitter as a standalone company. Despite the merger, the Twitter name and bird logo had been retained, at least until Musk's recent announcement.

Upon acquiring Twitter, Musk's vision was to metamorphose the platform into an "everything app" - a multifaceted application akin to China's popular WeChat. His ambitions for 'X' included services ranging from banking and shopping to texting, calling, travel booking, and stock trading.

However, realizing this grand plan has proven challenging for Musk. In particular, his decision to introduce a fee for account verification for politicians - a group that traditionally provided significant value to the platform - led to unforeseen complications. This decision was met with staunch resistance, leading to a notable exodus of these influential figures from the platform, thereby stripping it of valuable content.

As of April, Musk's efforts to monetize the platform further, such as the introduction of the Twitter Blue subscription, found less than 200,000 takers. Moreover, a controversial move to restrict free users to viewing only 1,000 tweets per day - widely perceived as a ploy to drive users to Twitter Blue - further provoked an exodus from the site.

To mitigate these losses, Musk recently announced a plan allowing Twitter Blue subscribers to earn a portion of ad revenue from their posts. Despite its potential, this initiative has yet to fully rectify the misstep of charging for account verification. The platform has since largely catered to affluent bloggers, a stark shift from its former status as a revolutionary news platform providing direct, unfiltered news from influential sources.

Interestingly, certain Twitter Blue users have successfully capitalized on the revenue share program. Notably, outspoken anti-Trump commentator Brian Krassenstein reportedly pulled in close to $25,000.

Yet, the road to X.com has been anything but smooth. Half of the 50 million users who registered have not returned to the platform, according to a study by SimilarWeb. Additionally, Musk's impulsive behaviors, including threatening a legal offensive against Meta for allegedly stealing Twitter's trade secrets, have invited widespread criticism.

The challenges extend further. Many influential users have been obscured due to 'shadowbanning', an issue embedded in Twitter's code, further amplified by duplicitous security measures put in place by entities posing as service providers.



Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
0:00
0:00
Close
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
Melinda French Gates Advocates for Increased Female Representation in AI to Prevent Bias
Snapchat+ gains 4 million paying subscribers in its first year
Apple Makes History as the First Public Company Valued at $3 Trillion
Elon Musk Implements Twitter Limits to Tackle Data Scraping, but Faces Criticism for Technical Misunderstanding
EU and UK's Slow Electric Vehicle Adoption Raises Questions About the Transition to Green Mobility
Top Companies Express Concerns Over Europe's Proposed AI Law, Citing Competitiveness and Investment Risks
Meta Unveils Insights on AI Usage in Facebook and Instagram, Amid Growing Calls for Transparency
Crypto Scams Against Seniors Soar by 78% in 2022, Experts Urge Vigilance
The End of an Era: National Geographic Dismisses Last of Its Staff Writers
Shield Your Wallet: The Perils of Wireless Credit Card Theft
Harvard Scientist Who Studies Honesty Accused Of Data Fraud, Put On Leave
Putting an End to the Subscription Snare: The Battle Against Unwitting Commitments
The Legal Perils of AI: Lawyer Faces Sanctions for Relying on Fictional Cases Generated by Chatbot
ChatGPT’s "Grandma Exploit": Ingenious Hack Exposes Loophole in AI, Generates Free Software Codes
The Disney Downturn: A Near Billion-Dollar Box Office Blow for the House of Mouse
A Digital Showdown: Canada Challenges Tech Giants with The Online News Act, Meta Strikes Back
Distress in the Depths: Submersible and Passengers Missing in Titanic Wreckage Expedition
Mark Zuckerberg stealing another idea: Twitter
European Union's AI Regulations Risk Self-Sabotage, Cautions smart and brave Venture Capitalist Joe Lonsdale
Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in
Chinese car exports surge
Reddit Blackout: Thousands of Communities Protest "Ludicrous" Pricing Changes
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
×