Elon Musk, ever since buying Twitter for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,59,100 crore), has been introducing modifications and updates to the microblogging website. The newest upheaval is a full change of its title and model brand, from Twitter to X. The billionaire additionally introduced in a tweet that the area X.com now redirects customers to Twitter. From monetising Twitter by way of premium subscriptions, to paid verification badges, the modifications Musk has made on the firm communicate volumes about how he intends to steer the platform and make it considered one of his X group of firms.
When Musk first acquired Twitter in October final 12 months, he was clear about his plans for the microblogging website. The Tesla CEO additionally tweeted on the time that “Shopping for Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the all the things app.” This “all the things app”, as he defined, could be an excellent all-in-one app like WeChat, which can be utilized for a number of issues together with reserving rides, sending cash, and making funds, other than facilitating day-to-day communications.
Now, Musk has certainly modified Twitter to X, with regards to title, area and even its brand. Nonetheless, it isn’t but an excellent app but. On Sunday, July 23, he posted about altering the emblem of Twitter to an X. Within the following hours, he didn’t solely that, but additionally made x.com redirect customers to Twitter’s residence web page.
Elon Musk and his love for ‘X’
The rebranding to X is current, however Musk’s love for this alphabet will not be so random. Actually, it has lasted for years now. The concept of X first emerged in 1999, when the billionaire launched x.com as a finance platform, which later turned Paypal after merging with software program firm Confinity in 2000. In keeping with an article in Time, Musk was faraway from his function because the CEO of Paypal in 2000, and it was later offered to eBay in a $1.5 billion deal.
Whereas Musk was reportedly harm by this, he bought x.com again from PayPal in July 2017, explaining that “it has nice sentimental worth”. Later that month, Musk made x.com reside once more, and it began redirecting guests to The Boring Firm in December 2017.
Since Twitter’s acquisition, Musk has been decided to place his plans for X – his “all the things app” – into motion. In his dialog with Ron Baron, the brand new Twitter chief introduced his ambition to make Twitter “probably the most beneficial monetary establishment on this planet” in April 2023.
Other than Twitter, Musk has additionally used the letter X in his house exploration firm’s title, SpaceX; his newest AI initiative named xAI; and the primary SUV mode launched by his firm Tesla underneath the title Mannequin X.
Adjustments to Twitter since Elon Musk’s acquisition
Twitter, underneath Musk’s management, has seen numerous modifications, ranging from termination of its then-CEO, Parag Agrawal and different prime executives. Within the following months, a variety of banned celeb accounts had been allowed to return to the platform.
Inside a month of his multi-billion greenback buy, Musk started trying to monetise Twitter with the reinvention of Twitter Blue. The corporate additionally noticed a sequence of job cuts and layoffs throughout places of work, together with the sacking of its complete AI Ethics staff.
Blue ticks for formally verified accounts in addition to subscribers’ accounts began to seem in November. Nonetheless, the tick marks on paid accounts disappeared inside a couple of days. Musk additionally launched completely different colored tick marks, primarily based on accounts’ possession standing, with a purpose to recognise information media shops.
With all these modifications, Twitter’s advert income has seen an almost 50 % drop. Musk has tried to maintain customers engaged by introducing a number of new options together with ive tweeting, neighborhood notes, and Twitter Blue for Enterprise. To maintain the enterprise on monitor, Musk lately introduced his resignation from the place of CEO, however continues to be closely concerned, pushing new options resembling view counts and the power to add lengthy movies.
The following huge information got here in April 2023, when Musk introduced Twitter’s merger with X Corp. In Might this 12 months, Musk employed Linda Yaccarino to be the new CEO of Twitter. He has indicated that he’ll delegate authority to her and can step again to deal with his different firms.
A have a look at Twitter’s title and the blue fowl’s historical past
Twitter was based in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. Earlier, Twitter was deliberate to have completely different names, like Smssy and Twttr, as per CreativeBloq. The primary official Twitter brand was simply its title written in mild blue in sans sherif shapes, and was designed by Linda Gavin.
Twitter’s relationship with a blue fowl began quickly after its launch. It was created by Simon Oxley, a British graphic designer. In keeping with an NYT article, he provided the design on the market on the iStock web site in 2006, and it was purchased by Twitter for round $15. The title Larry was a tribute to basketball star and Boston Celtics legend Larry Hen.
The design has modified thrice, in 2009, 2010, and 2012. The present blue fowl design was created by Doug Bowman, the corporate’s former inventive director, in response to whom “Twitter is the fowl, the fowl is Twitter.” Ever since, Larry the fowl has been identified solely because the blue Twitter fowl.
In 2023, new proprietor Musk has modified not simply the emblem, but additionally the title and the area of Twitter. The corporate will now be often known as X, with a brand of an X. In keeping with a tweet by Paris Marx, the brand new brand was created by an in-house designer, utilizing the font monotype. One other Twitter consumer has additionally come ahead to take credit score for the design, revealing the historical past behind the way it all started.
