In a significant shift, the social media platform Twitter has officially rebranded. Twitter is now “X” as the company seeks to encompass a broader range of services and better reflect its evolving identity.

Since Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform in 2022, the social media app has seen significant changes as it appears to re-engage with users who have since moved on to TikTok.

“Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app,” said Musk in a “tweet.”

He adds, “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. In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world.”

What Does Musk Have In Mind For Twitter?

Much like the super app WeChat, Musk’s rebranding of Twitter to X aims to do everything a consumer can think of. From listening to podcasts, shopping online, watching videos, and more, X is nearing a search engine-inspired system with the ability to look up everything.

In essence, X appears to be heading towards becoming a mainstream platform much like Patreon, where users can broadcast, send live audio conversations and potentially expand into subscription based revenue for paid subscribers to receive.

It is no surprise that Musk has a particular fascination with the letter X. After all, he did include the letter prominently in one of his son’s names, as well as using it in the name of his first startup, X.com. The letter has also been used in other Musk endeavors such as his private space exploration company SpaceX as well as his artificial-intelligence app xAI and the Model X Tesla.

What Does The Name Change Mean For The Site?

For now, Twitter’s rebrand to X is simply just a name change, however, it is likely that Musk’s app renovation will progress further in the future. His decision to change Twitter to X suggests that Musk will keep control over the company for a significant amount of time and is believed to mainly be a hype move.

Whether it is confusing its users or not in terms of having a clear motive for its significance, there is a possibility that X could fail as a social media app by lacking the ability to attract enough advertisers. Furthermore, Musk’s dive into the e-commerce spectrum with shopping and paid subscription content would require a full team of staffing and an uptick in infrastructure tactics. Twitter’s recent layoff history makes it unclear as to whether this move will be an easy one.

It is estimated that Twitter has lost $20 billion from its brand value after Musk officially took over in October 2022. He bought the app for $44 billion.

Do You Have To Call It X?

In casual conversation, if you refer to the website formerly known as Twitter as just Twitter, most people will still know what you’re talking about. However as of 2024, since Twitter became X, more people have shifted to referring to the site by its monosyllabic title. Whether or not you continue to call it that is entirely your choice in personal conversation.

However, in professional spheres, such as in marketing and business trade, referring to it as X is becoming the norm. As a shorthand for familiarity, many businesses and publications used “X (formerly Twitter)” or Twitter/X, but this seems to be phasing out. Since it is the brand’s proper name now, using that appropriately is recommended.

Gabrielle Tazewell

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