Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter to X shows his takeover is best understood not as a money-making endeavor, but as an extended act of cultural vandalism

RIP Twitter (2007-2023) — On Monday afternoon, a crane rolled up to Twitter's headquarters on Market Street.

Platformer 2023-07-25 Casey Newton

Context & Ripple Effects

The X rebrand followed a takeover already described in related coverage as intensifying problems tied to Twitter’s business model and its freewheeling character. The immediate visual break was underway with the interim X logo replacing the bird.

Musk described the change as more than a name swap, arguing Twitter had fit an earlier era of short messages. That makes the rebrand a test of whether a widely recognized social platform can be detached from its accumulated identity while retaining its role in the social-media ecosystem.

First-order effects

Twitter’s public-facing identity, from its bird mark to the name users and publishers invoke, is replaced by X; the headquarters signage makes that change tangible.
Musk gains a clearer vehicle for presenting the service as something broader than its legacy product, while users and businesses must adapt their language and branding around the new name.

Second-order effects

The abrupt brand break raises the cost of continuity for advertisers, publishers, and third-party services that built recognition around “Twitter,” particularly as the platform’s underlying business-model strains were already in view.
A rebrand framed as a broader product reset creates pressure to demonstrate utility beyond the legacy short-message service, rather than relying on the name recognition the platform previously held.

Third-order effects

If platform owners increasingly treat established social networks as assets to be remade around a proprietor’s broader strategy, institutional brand equity becomes less durable after an acquisition.
The episode fits a wider strategic-institution transition: the central uncertainty is whether users and commercial partners remain attached to the network itself when its identity and priorities change quickly.

The trend: This is one data point in the shift from social platforms as durable public institutions toward owner-directed products whose identity can be rapidly redefined after takeover.

Discussion

@caseynewton.bsky.social Casey Newton on bluesky
Let's get clear on what Twitter's rebranding to X really is: a political project from a right-wing reactionary. https://www.platformer.news/ ... [image]
@ashdylanlit Ash Dylan on x
me watching Titanic: what are those musicians DOING me on Twitter still: oh I get it
@sarthakgh Sar Haribhakti on x
A zinger from Matt Levine on Elon saga [image]
@gcluley @gcluley on x
[image]
@shoe0nhead Shoe on x
ok this app sucks ass im done if you want to find me i will be here using it
@larakate @larakate on x
Casey, of course, nails it. And nails exactly why this has unexpectedly been a much sadder day for the 1.0 Twitter folks than we expected.
@cooperlund Cooper Lund on x
Claiming this is part of a grand plan is committing the mistake of thinking he had a plan to begin with. You're looking for dots to connect to avoid the obvious conclusion: the richest man alive is mostly just a lucky idiot. Anything beyond that is buying into his self-promotion.
@kimmasters Kim Masters on x
“An extended act of cultural vandalism” by a fool who is emotionally about 7 years old.
@matthiasellis Matthew Ellis on x
No he's an idiot. Why can't you guys get this through your head it's what our system allows to happen. There have always been people this dumb, never before have they had the power they do now
@emilybell Emily Bell on x
I said this yesterday (or today...who knows....time is a flat circle) and this is a filled out version of my tweet-sized thesis : destroying Twitter was always the object. One thing - it's not *just* cultural vandalism - it's the destruction of civic infrastructure
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
I think this ascribes too much intentionality in Musk's management. I think it's more “rig my favorite game/take my ball and go home” if anything.
@leoniehaimson Leonie Haimson on x
Musk acquisition of Twitter not money making endeavor, but extended act of cultural vandalism. Just as he graffitis 420s & 69s all over corporate filings & paints over corporate signs & offices with sex puns; so does he delight in erasing Twitter that was. https://www.platformer.…
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Why would Elon Musk destroy billions in brand value just to rename Twitter to X? Because the whole point, from the very beginning, has been to erase the old Twitter and everything it stood for. https://www.platformer.news/ ... [image]
@daveyalba Davey Alba on x
Thanks for writing this @CaseyNewton. Agreed. https://www.platformer.news/ ... [image]
@jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen on x
And how does trashing what had been an extremely strong brand pay off in dollars for the current owner of that brand? Let Platformer explain. From: “Twitter becomes X.” https://open.substack.com/... [image]
Vox Sara Morrison on x
Bye-bye birdie: Twitter is X now
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@JonErlichman Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app. This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing. The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and…
@titterdaily @titterdaily on x
INSIGHT: Elon's biographer Walter Isaacson has shared details of Elon's plans for X. “(Elon) said it can be a trillion-dollar company — easily. This is an idea he has thought about for 25 years — a financial platform that helps anyone profit from creating content.” [image]
@halalcoholism Christoph on x
Elon rebranding Twitter as “X” [video]
@therealmissjo Miss Jo on x
I don't care who owns Twitter, if anyone thinks that I will link my financial life to an app that has blocked, suspended and persecuted people for believing men can't be women and covid is not a danger to everyone, then they are rather silly. Keep Twitter as it is.
@jonerlichman Jon Erlichman on x
Companies that changed their names: Amazon: Cadabra Best Buy: Sound of Music eBay: Auction Web Facebook: Meta Google: BackRub Instagram: Burbn Netflix: Kibble Nike: Blue Ribbon Sports Pepsi: Brad's Drink Playboy: Stag Party 7-Eleven: Tote'm Stores Snapchat: Picaboo Starbucks:...
UPROXX UPROXX on x
Elon's Bizarre, Russ Hanneman-esque Rebrand Of Twitter As ‘X’ Reportedly Led To Company Conference Rooms Being Renamed Stuff Like ‘eXposure,’ ‘eXult’ And ‘s3xy’
@mmasnick.bsky.social Mike Masnick on bluesky
Lol. Apparently a crane showed up outside of Twitter to take down the Twitter sign, and then someone came out to tell them they can't... and the cops were called... Fun stuff in Muskland.
@rrrubenstein.bsky.social Rebecca Rubenstein on bluesky
For a lot of us, losing Twitter isn't really about losing ties to the company itself. It's losing 10+ years of real, asynchronous communities, professional development, the ability to get gigs and clients, the ability to promo/share your art on an extremely broad scale. The los…
@colinpeters.bsky.social Colin Peters on bluesky
Re. Twitter rebrand: One of Elon Musk's goals in buying Twitter was to ruin it for progressive communities and organizing. * The rest is just his weird rich guy jokes demonstrating he doesn't have to care about anything.
@zitron.bsky.social Ed Zitron on bluesky
Successfully called it. Here's what happens next: Musk posts an insane future roadmap full of totally undoable stuff, fires Linda Yaccarino within a quarter, and I honestly believe this is when bankers are going to start calling him. [image]
@mmasnick.bsky.social Mike Masnick on bluesky
ChatGPT prompt: Please create a bland corporate sounding bunch o' nonsense for Linda Yaccarino, Twitter CEO, to tweet out, pretending to be excited and inspired by Elon Musk's bizarre decision to deprecate the Twitter brand in favor of X. — ChatGPT: [image]
@taylorlorenz.bsky.social Taylor Lorenz on bluesky
Twitter will officially rebrand as X later today, Elon Musk confirms https://www.theverge.com/... [images]
@mimsical@mastodon.social Christopher Mims on mastodon
who else is excited for a payments app as reliable as late-stage Twitter
@Renee@mastodon.social @Renee@mastodon.social on mastodon
this is hilarious — [image]
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org Lauren Weinstein on mastodon
Musk says you no longer send a tweet, you send an, uh, “x”. Yeah, for real.
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org Lauren Weinstein on mastodon
So Musk has changed the cheerful name and logo of #Twitter to a dark, ominous, fascist-looking “X”. At least it's truth in advertising.
@SirTapTap@mastodon.social @SirTapTap@mastodon.social on mastodon
Let me tell you the secret of the “Everything App”. — It's real, it's not called X, and it's about 33 years old. It's called a Web Browser. — Despite a decade of walled gardens trying hard to ruin it, you can still do pretty much any task you need on the web. …
@TNLNYC@mastodon.social Tristan Louis on mastodon
All I have to say about the X rebrand is Y?
@marcoarment@mastodon.social Marco Arment on mastodon
Can we please pronounce it “ten”
@Popehat@mastodon.social Ken White on mastodon
Here is how to distinguish Elon Musk's new X.com from 1994 computer strategy gaming classic XCOM: one involves a brave struggle against freakish, hideous alien intelligence seeking to undermine world civilization with advanced technology and the other is a computer game
@PeterR@mastodon.social Peter Rojas on mastodon
Only going to get easier to go from being an X user to an ex-user.
@davepell@mastodon.social Dave Pell on mastodon
Makes sense, we were already calling it Ex. — https://www.theverge.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we'll make go live worldwide tomorrow
@lindayacc Linda Yaccarino on x
It's an exceptionally rare thing - in life or in business - that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
https://x.com/ now points to https://twitter.com/. Interim X logo goes live later today.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@SawyerMerritt x's
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Our headquarters tonight [image]
@martingrasser Martin Grasser on x
Today we say goodbye to this great blue bird This logo was designed in 2012 by a team of three. @toddwaterbury, @angyche and myself, The logo was designed to be simple, balanced, and legible at very small sizes, almost like a lowercase “e”, a 🧵 [image]
@lindayacc Linda Yaccarino on x
X is here! Let's do this. [image]
@lindayacc Linda Yaccarino on x
There's absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well....everything. @elonmusk and I are looking forward to working with our teams and every single one of our partners to bring X to the world.
@waynesutton Wayne Sutton on x
Welp, @twitter name so coming off the building right now but @elonmusk didn't get permit for the equipment on the street so @SFPD is shutting it down. [video]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
To embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique
@esthercrawford @esthercrawford on x
Corporate seppuku: destroying your own product or brand. Usually committed by new management in pursuit of cost-savings due to a lack of understanding about the core business or disregard for the customer experience. The result is a massive loss of shareholder value. 📉 [image]
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
Elon “Graphic Design Is My Passion” Musk's logo for “X” is literally just Unicode Character “𝕏” (U+1D54F). https://www.compart.com/... [video]
@mcjesse Jesse McLaren on x
These are all porn except one. That one's Twitter. [image]
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Just spoke to @mattdorsey, the SF Supervisor in the area, who happened to be near the building at lunch. He said he witnessed several self-driving cars become confused by the crane, which was in the street. “It was very 2023,” he said. https://twitter.com/...
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
I'm still gonna call it Twitter
@alex193a Alessandro Paluzzi on x
Here we go! #Twitter has changed its logo [image]
@sawyermerritt Sawyer Merritt on x
The new Muskonomy [image]
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Can't wait to be fired from my job in the s3Xy room.
@lindayacc Linda Yaccarino on x
For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential. X will do that and more. We've already started to see X take shape over the past 8 months through our rapid feature launches, but we're just getting...
@profgalloway Scott Galloway on x
When a private citizen can pay $44 billion for a media company — “the world's town square” — and both crash the civility of the discourse and incinerate 17 years of brand equity within 10 months .... we have too much concentration of wealth in the hands of too few.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
The future of finance: “sorry, to qualify for this loan (xoan) you must send out at least 100 more Xeets this month”
@requiemarm Jesse on x
[image]
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
What the Twitter CEO described below is called the internet.
@gaetaamy Amy Gaeta on x
I hate this app so much. This rebrand is awful. If you need to reach me, you can find me here engaging in content and regularly posting
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
At Twitter's (X's?) offices, workers are trying to remove all bird-related paraphernalia, according to two sources. In San Francisco, folks have been working to remove a 10-foot tall blue bird logo from the cafeteria. In its place, X logos have been projected on the wall.
@paulg Paul Graham on x
A forum and a financial hub are inherently incompatible. You can't have a financial hub that bans people for saying bad things.
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
musk even has galloway talking about wealth concentration now, lol
@erratarob Robᵉʳᵗ Graham on x
Back in the day, I did a trademark search for “BlackIce” but missed “Black Ice”. My failure cost about $1 million. What I'm saying is that I've learned a lot of lessons about trademarks the hard way. I can't believe that X is free of trademark problems.
@arictoler Aric Toler on x
Has there been an article about how Musk is (inadvertently, I assume?) mirroring Torba's path for Gab, but lagging behind somehow? Focus on video (Gab TV), payment systems/marketplace (Torba's “parallel economy"), AI (Gab AI), not to even touch on political/free speech topics.
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Still think Meta was a worse rebrand than X
@rachelmetz Rachel Metz on x
Can't possibly imagine how naming a conference room “S3Xy” could go badly
@jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen on x
Is there anything comparable to this erasure in the history of branding and product iconography? [image]
@peterjukes Peter Jukes on x
Good point. How can x be a verb? Like Paypal and Twitter/Tweet? Musk has a very unsound grasp of human use of language and brands
@hbomberguy @hbomberguy on x
Single character sites are immensely expensive. A company a friend of mine worked for almost spent like, millions on https://p.co/ , which they eventually didn't. Apparently the CEO badly wanted it for some reason
@sesamestreet @sesamestreet on x
The letter X will be holding a press conference later today. #TwitterX [image]
@matttomic @matttomic on x
The only business instinct Elon Musk's ever had in 30 years is “what if we called it... (sly grin, crossing arms)... X.” He's done it at his payments company and car company and rocket ship company and social media app and with his own human child. No one has ever liked it.
@eyepatchwolf Eyepatch Wolf on x
i didnt know it was possible for a logo to have divorce energy
@0xdesigner @0xdesigner on x
wtf why does my browser keep closing when i click the logo [video]
@maxdubler @maxdubler on x
The X logo looks like it's for one of those ridiculous fragile masculinity subscription box services that would send you like an axe, a bottle of hot sauce, small batch coffee, and some beard oil every month in 2019.
@azealia_tiktok @azealia_tiktok on x
twitters new logo [image]
@hardmaru @hardmaru on x
This design is better than “𝕏”.
@lunch_enjoyer @lunch_enjoyer on x
X is a terrible name. I would have gone with something like David. And all tweets would be called Daves.
@0xgaut Gaut on x
he must be scared for his life [image]
@moorehn Heidi N. Moore on x
Grandiosity is a wild choice for a man who just turned a $44 billion company into a $20 billion company in a few months
@kenklippenstein Ken Klippenstein on x
Elon Musk says Twitter could become “half of the global financial system” [video]
@normative Julian Sanchez on x
Linda Yaccarino is discovering how it felt to be one of Trump's press secretaries.
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Twitter's X rebrand is underway at its San Francisco headquarters. The co. is projecting the X logo in the cafeteria and changed conference room names to words and phrases with the letter X in them. Those new names include “eXposure,” “eXult” and “s3Xy.” https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
Twitter's new X logo wasn't made by an in-house designer. It's from an old podcast hosted by one of the cult that Elon took from his replies. The font is @Monotype's Special Alphabets 4. Who wants to bet Musk didn't pay for the rights before slapping it all over the place? [image…
@netik John Adams on x
Just remember that “X” is the universal symbol for close, dismiss, or cancel. Bye Twitter, it was a good run.
@joshshepperd Josh Shepperd on x
X marks the spot. But no treasure, just incels.
@jtriest Jonathon Triest on x
The average consumer doesn't care what the Twitter logo looks like.
@tomhfh Tom Harwood on x
Why rebrand Twitter? It's an incredibly strong brand - even among those who do not use it. Why not simply make X the parent company, as with Meta to Facebook or Alphabet to Google? [image]
@zeddary Zeddy on x
“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to imagine.” [image]
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
Xbox Series X logo vs. Twitter's new X logo. Who did it better? [image]
@noahshachtman Noah Shachtman on x
[Kendall Roy voice] It's, y'know, Venmo meets Clubhouse meets Ebay meets ChatGPT. [image]
@mabintou @mabintou on x
Twitter was the perfect example great branding. From the the bird logo to the birdhouse home icon to the word ‘tweet’. Sigh.
@samleecole Samantha Cole on x
thinking about when https://x.com/ was “not nearly the worst place on the web” in 1997 [image]
@ch1w33th3d0g Qanon Latifah on x
gonna be honest this new widget design looks like an app for a membership only human trafficking gentlemen's club headquartered in Budapest [image]
@gaysexforreal @gaysexforreal on x
he deadnames his daughter we will be deadnamin the platform 🔥🔥🔥
@drmistercody Cody Johnston on x
Welcome to X. Tweets are now called Grimeses.
@wagatwe @wagatwe on x
X. the thing I've been trained to click when I want to exit an app. perfect. no notes.
@davegerhardt Dave Gerhardt on x
I do respect the Twitter to X name change for many reasons. Do you know how long it would have taken for a marketing team to develop a new name? The ideas The committees The feedback The customer interviews The consensus None of that noise 🤣 That's my dream
@chafkin Max Chafkin on x
Others have pointed this out, but this renaming is stepping on the exact same rake that got him ousted by PayPal. Wrote about this in my book [image]
@jack @jack on x
keep calm and just x through it
@brushalt @brushalt on x
cool. looks great. the little birdhouse for ‘home’ makes much more sense now. [image]
@rajatsuri Rajat Suri on x
A YC founder would be laughed at for describing their company like this.
@paulg Paul Graham on x
@rajatsuri We'd cut them a break if they were still in college.
@0xfoobar @0xfoobar on x
people who tried to rebrand crypto->web3 are not allowed to have an opinion on twitter->X
@fontendou @fontendou on x
Elon Musk's new logo for Twitter's re-branding as “X App” is simply the capital X glyph from the font “Special Alphabets 4” from Monotype's Special Alphabets font family. [image]
@ccanonne_ Clément Canonne on x
Wait, did they REALLY go with \mathbb{X} as their logo? They cannot possibly be THAT lazy? [image]
@leederca @leederca on x
Welcome to X. Now this is how you do a rebranding: [image]
@mikedrucker Mike Drucker on x
Love to change my business logo to something that can't be trademarked which means anyone can legally use it for whatever they want
@kate_rouch Kate Rouch🛡️ on x
I spent 2 years of my life rebranding Facebook to FACEBOOK. Ask me anything 🫡
@keewa @keewa on x
lol check out how the “scratch” doesn't extend across the X, because the X is in a black square on top of the background, a 12 year old would be embarrassed to post this on a web forum
@pankendev Panken on x
after elon renames twitter and changes the url to something stupid there's about a 40% chance he skimps out on setting up a redirect service and breaks all existing twitter urls everywhere forever
@parkermolloy Parker Molloy on x
Weird new logo, but ok [image]
@kurtruslfanclub @kurtruslfanclub on x
hey @monotype how much would it cost to license this font exclusively for use in logos [image]
@rothschildmd Mike Rothschild on x
In 20 minutes, https://x.com/ first redirected to a GoDaddy site, then a dead link, then “.twitter.com” But yeah, you'll do your banking through X. [image]
@nixcraft @nixcraft on x
Interesting. https://x.com/ is using Cloudflare. I wonder if it is a free plan or enterprise plan. [image]
@thegarrettscott @thegarrettscott on x
Very excited for the day my wife finds an $8/month charge to a site called “x .com”.
@b_hvrd Brandon Havard on x
https://x.com/ sounds like a porn website, you cannot convince me otherwise
@stealthygeek Patrick S. Tomlinson on x
Elon has been obsessed with calling everything “X,” Space X, Model X, X AE A-12, now just X, ever since the rest of the PayPal owners told him it was a stupid name. He's going to erase a globally recognized, culturally impactful brand because he was told “No” 25yrs ago. Moron.
@stateofronance @stateofronance on x
Why the fuck didn't he just make his own X app with subscriptions and limited daily content instead of trashing my house
@ruskin147 Rory Cellan-Jones on x
I'm so excited! This reminds me of when Royal Mail rebranded as Consignia and never looked back
@jessicacadams Jessica Adams BA on x
The X seen here on Indian deodorant cans. Choose your #TwitterX from Flame, Enigma, Adventure and Refresh. They probably all smell of Musk. [image]
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
I'm amazed at how many people think Twitter has copied the X Windows logo or some other logo. The new X logo is literally a Unicode 𝕏 from Special Alphabets 4 [image]
@nmsonline @nmsonline on x
The logo for the Twitter rebrand is taken without alteration from a discontinued Tesla/SpaceX/Musk fan podcast, suggested to Elon Musk on here yesterday, in case anyone was under the impression this had been thought through.
@webdesignmuseum @webdesignmuseum on x
Twitter logo evolution 2006-2023 #WebDesignHistory [image]
@nadineaucamp Nadine Aucamp on x
The new Twitter logo is giving Checkers Xtra Savings [image]
@mrbiffo @mrbiffo on x
New Twitter logo. [image]
@keffals @keffals on x
does anyone with a lot of money feel like absolutely ruining elon musk's week [image]
@riptari @riptari on x
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despaXr! [image]
@karlremarks Karl Sharro on x
It used to take European royal families centuries of inbreeding and drinking from lead cups to achieve the level of arbitrariness in power that Elon Musk perfected in under a year on Twitter
@nikitabier Nikita Bier on x
X might be the most insane example of “founder naming his product after a domain he's been sitting on, even if it doesn't make sense”
@austen Austen Allred on x
I stressed over a rebrand we were forced into for months and Twitter just slaps on a logo created by a user 24 hours after committing to do it
@beeple @beeple on x
X IS COMING [image]
@savvyauntie Melanie Notkin on x
#TwitterFiles will now be called the X-Files. I mean, I'm just assuming. 👀
@channel4 @channel4 on x
People still call our streaming service 4OD so good luck
@mrdavemacleod @mrdavemacleod on x
the new Twitter logo looks like it was designed by an idiot billionaire
@teslaownerssv @teslaownerssv on x
Instead of retweet, what's the new name? ReX'd?
@halomancer1 @halomancer1 on x
[image]
@davidmackau David Mack on x
[image]
@amandamgoetz Amanda Goetz on x
Rebranding Twitter to X is one thing... ....Rolling it out with a single tweet with zero context is another. Missed opportunity to bring everyone on board of the bigger mission and hope for the platform. Change management 101: in the absence of information, people will make...
@birdyword Mike Bird on x
Several times, Musk has discussed making Twitter the lynchpin of a ‘super app’ called X. But the actual Asian super apps are having a torrid time, and many have struggled to build real platforms and businesses that actually make any money as a whole https://www.economist.com/...
@byyourlogic @byyourlogic on x
attempting to pay my rent through Twitter and 18 days later my building receives a text file that just says “i'm the type of girlfriend that will have a big ass fight with you just to be like ok where are we gonna go eat”
@selsaystuff Sel on x
looks like a dating app for gay men
@mike27356894 @mike27356894 on x
PLEASE ELON, DON'T CHANGE THE LOGO TO X. I BEG OF YOU. [image]
@turtlekiosk @turtlekiosk on x
looks like this [image]
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Like this but X [image]
@harrymccracken @harrymccracken on x
If Twitter really does abandon its brand and theoretically pursue 5 or 6 other categories with deeply entrenched leaders all at once it might feel more like giving up than anything else.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Buying Twitter for $44B seems like a very circuitous path if you just wanted to launch a credit card called X.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Deus X
@jonrussell Jon Russell on x
Musk and co are of course trying to build a super app right when every super app trying to emulate WeChat has failed...
@zoeschiffer Zoë Schiffer on x
NEW: Elon Musk told Twitter employees late last night that he'd just sent them the last email he'd ever send from a Twitter email address. He signed off with this emoji: 🫡
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Branding is for cows!
@tomcoates Tom Coates on x
@elonmusk Yet again someone doesn't understand the point of the game they're playing. [image]
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
QwiXster
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
I remember when the Cleveland Browns made a big deal about changing uniform colors. They were still mediocre. Twitter is a worse product now not because of the bird logo, but because @elonmusk elevates conspiracy folks like the pizza gate guy. Twitter X doesn't change that fact.
@paulg Paul Graham on x
Slow news day, when the biggest stories are two popular movies and a dumb plan to rename Twitter.
@jdcmedlock James Medlock on x
Really feels like elon is actively trying to kill twitter, but somehow failing at it despite every effort
@katie_roof Katie Roof on x
Is X short for X AE A-XII
@emilcdc Emil Caillaux on x
Make it happen, Elon, and since you don't have a comms team or a DEI team, you'll never know X (or “Equis") is slang in Latin America for “whatever” or “it's irrelevant” until it's too late.
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
Actually dropping the name Twitter is such a hilariously bad idea. It will sever what already tenuous emotional connection longtime users have to this site.
@yosephpaulos Paulos on x
Somebody put a stop to this man please [video]
@jamestobyne @jamestobyne on x
I love it when CEO's get a bug to rebrand. Twitter has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and a decade to get it where it is... throwing it all away has a small immediate cost, and likely little to no value. Its a waste of all the hundreds of millions spent plus the time.
@edzitron Ed Zitron on x
I love being CEO of a once-$44bn company that is going through a sudden name change and not making a single comment [image]
@josephpolitano @josephpolitano on x
Oh great someone is looking to steal the “worst major corporate rebranding ever” trophy from Zuckerberg
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Blink twice if you need to be rescued.
@gabor Gabor Cselle on x
I'm still processing the Verge article. https://www.theverge.com/... So basically he's given up a globally recognizable brand worth $5.7B, so that the name is consistent with his space company and the pre-merger name for PayPal?
@cameronwilson Cameron Wilson on x
elon dares to ask the question: what if the public town square was also a bank... and opportunities marketplace.... and artificial intelligence? [image]
@jangles Neville Hobson on x
I wonder what #Twitter's communicators think of this as I bet they weren't involved in the decision. Oh wait, there is no comms department at Twitter! But what about new PR guy @benarroch_joe? He came with @lindayacc in June #TwitterLogo
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Not to mention that Twitter is already “powered by AI” and uses machine learning in bunches. What does “powered by AI” mean for a site that relies largely on human user generated content?
@sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x
Seems like a sensible focused approach
@xxdepthxx @xxdepthxx on x
Can he just focus on the app rather than wasting money rebranding it? First he says we need to make profits, than he just heavily restrict “unverified” (more like free) account And now they are wasting money on some stupid rebranding? Like what they expect to come from it?
@largeroundson @largeroundson on x
This web site is now diarrhea on fire. Might as well have the branding reflect that.
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
I know this has been Musk's vision for a while but has anyone wondered if people actually want the place where they shitpost to also be where they buy toilet paper
@prateekwaghre @prateekwaghre on x
Somehow, this person is near the top of the ‘wealth creation’ pile. Makes you wonder about our metrics.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
What do these words mean
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
So the logo and name for this app is going to be universal icon for “delete?”
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Think of the savings on signage and office stationary. Also: Boob jokes are just what we want from a 50-something badly raised teen. [image]
@benparr Ben Parr on x
Something tells me destroying 15 years of brand equity is a bad business decision. [image]
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
So how long do you think it'll take Musk to realise he also has to change things like this to move away from the Twitter brand? [image]
@mshannahmurphy Hannah Murphy on x
NEW: Linda Yaccarino told marketers today that Twitter plans to work closely with Musk's new AI company, xAI, as part of the rebrand Twitter data could be used to train the AI models developed by xAI. In turn, xAI's tech could be used to improve Twitter https://www.ft.com/...
@evacide Eva on x
I think today has definitively proven that Linda Yaccarino's tweets are written by an AI trained on corporate word salad.
@zoeschiffer Zoë Schiffer on x
This is proving to be a pretty popular move. Those bought into Musk's vision are excited, as expected, those who aren't seem relieved that the company they knew is officially gone.
@lcamtuf @lcamtuf on x
This just in: after 17 years, Twitter is officially rebranding to New Coke
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
In all seriousness, https://x.com/ was one of Elon's earliest companies that was combined with PayPal. He has loved the letter as he says since the 1990s.
@alexdobie Alex Dobie on x
An opportune time to remember that a couple weeks ago these guys tripped and got themselves jammed in the rate limiter, taking the service down for fays. Now they want to be the WeChat-style app you use for everything from payments to airline tickets? el oh and also crucially el
@austen Austen Allred on x
Killing the Twitter name and getting rid of the bird Jack must be pissed
@austen Austen Allred on x
@elonmusk Ah man the bird is such a strong brand
@loupas @loupas on x
The @Twitter blue bird logo is beloved, ubiquitous and has nearly 100% unaided awareness globally, something most brands never come close to achieving. Virtually every newscaster, reporter and byline features the logo, exclusively, giving the brand $$$ millions of free marketing.…
@jujuujba @jujuujba on x
holy shit guys hes doing the thing where he steals someone else's invention and claims he actually created it all along by changing the brand
@nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x
It's a brand that's still worth billions. Why wouldn't you sell it?
@gruber John Gruber on x
My entry in the logo contest: [image]
@killedbygoogle @killedbygoogle on x
He's absolutely taking this the corporate bankruptcy route. He wants to drive the value of this company into the ground, then sell off the brand for pieces. What a fucking loser. It's still hard for me to believe people worship this fucking idiot. https://www.reuters.com/...
@allergictoguac @allergictoguac on x
@elonmusk this is the one [image]
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Step 1: destroy any possible trust that you could be a reliable ecosystem partner Step 2: claim you're going to build an all-encompassing ecosystem that combines everything Apple, Meta & Google have failed to do in the last decade of trying. But, with AI! Have you heard of it?
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
A big reason why super-apps succeeded in Asia was because, in many places, connectivity sucked — so people didn't want to download dozens of apps. Not much of an issue where Twitter/X plays. Def could do much more w/ commerce, but overall this feels like an anachronistic dream.
@packym Packy McCormick on x
Either he really is killing Twitter on purpose for the good of humanity or he's taking a big swing at something that might make sense with time. Elon's not dumb. More fun to watch this whole thing with curiosity than rage.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Because you all didn't click on enough ads we now have to use Twitter as our bank account. Great work folks.
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
In 2000, Elon Musk tried to rebrand PayPal as https://x.com/, but was forced out by the board and replaced as CEO by Peter Thiel. Now he's doing the same to Twitter, but is surrounded by sycophants who can't tell him it's a bad idea. Read more: https://www.disconnect.blog/ ... [i…
@itsmichelebro Michele Brooks on x
@karaswisher The fact that Twitter is rebranding to X is hilarious considering what you click to close windows and browsers.
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Twitter CEO: hasn't tweeted in two days Twitter owner: decides to change the company's name over night in a deluge of posts
@katzish Amanda Katz on x
We all know that guy at work who needs to change everything that wasn't his idea
@stuli1989 Kshitij Shah on x
So I'll be posting Xes instead of Tweets?
@whstancil Will Stancil on x
Musk has always wanted to make his original X app work despite it being an idiotic idea, and just like everything else he's ever “made,” from his jokes to his cars, his plan for creating it is to steal it from someone else and then claim credit while making it worse
@joshconstine @joshconstine on x
Reads like a pitch deck written in crayon
@edzitron Ed Zitron on x
He's going to change the website to like Xsocial or something. He's going to remove the only valuable thing left for no reason [image]
@ctjlewis Lewis on x
the twitter brand is internet history. this is sacrilege 😔
@pt Parker on x
Elon is 100% evil John Connor, Yaccarino is the Genisys CEO, and Jack is old Arnold trying to BlueSky them both in this timeline.
@ditzkoff Dave Itzkoff on x
[image]
@taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on threads
Twitter Japan apparently can't legally change their name and rebranding to “X Japan” because the Jrock band X JAPAN owns the rights to the name
@keithedwards Keith Edwards on threads
He doesn't own the logo. He doesn't own the trademark. He doesn't even own the twitter handle. And cops stopped him from changing the building's sign, because he didn't have a permit. Great...
@shellen Jason Shellen on threads
Someone just called tweets “Xcretions” and I think we have our winner.
@crumbler Casey Newton on threads
Twitter died last October. Now it finally has a brand that reflects this reality
@renee.diresta Renee DiResta on threads
It will do everything, be everything, host everything, sell everything, powered by AI, which also wrote this message. A whole lot of VCs invested in this effort, I wonder how they're feeling about it.
@hankgreen Hank Green on threads
Elon wants us to think he's a Tesla but believes he's an Edison while actually being a Barnum.
@crumbler Casey Newton on threads
Remember that episode of the Simpsons where Homer designs a car? This is like if he designed a social network https://twitter.com/...
@sarahprz Sarah Perez on threads
Remember when we thought Max was the dumbest rebrand ever?
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
You didn't leave Twitter, Twitter left you. Welcome to Threads.
@reporterzoe Zoe Schiffer on threads
NEW: Linda Yaccarino sent employees an email about Twitter's rebrand to X. She said the new company will go even further than it's predecessor to transform the global town square & that she and Elon...
@levie Aaron Levie on threads
If you paid someone a large sum of money to intentionally destroy brand equity they probably wouldn't even come up with this.
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
Elon Musk is teaching a master class in driving the value of a multibillion dollar acquisition to $0. I haven't seen value destruction this epic since Steve Ballmer drove the value of aQuantive, a...
@moskov Dustin Moskovitz on threads
By rebranding, new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino wastes no time in putting her mark on the company. A smart move to distance herself from the recent leadership mistakes from the former guy.
@vthallam Venkatesh Thallam on threads
Calling it now. Elon is renaming Twitter to X, not because he thinks a super app will work, it never worked in the US, but it would be easy to sell the vision of an everything app and do an IPO....
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
My favorite thing about the new Twitter is how obvious it is that Elon fired the design team and has no appreciation of what they did.
@tconrad Tom Conrad on threads
Zuck: we're gonna kill Twitter Musk: hold my beer
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on threads
X isn't even a good name. Who is he, Dr. Doofenschmirtz or something?
@stop Doug Bowman on threads
When I work on a product and its brand elements, I don't really ever anticipate its future demise, let alone its disappearance. RIP, Twitter, and all the Larry birds.
r/popculturechat r on reddit
Twitter is now X as the little blue bird disappears

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