The company's blue bird silhouette was substituted by the tech billionaire with an "X," referring to what he termed an "everything app."
Elon Musk, the tech mogul who took control of Twitter last fall, has brought about one of the most noticeable changes to the platform. He recently announced on a Sunday morning that the iconic bird logo and even the entire "Twitter" brand will eventually be phased out. Approximately 24 hours later, the well-known blue bird silhouette was replaced on the company's website with a sleek, black-and-white stylized "X."
Elon Musk, the tech mogul who took control of Twitter last fall, has brought about one of the most noticeable changes to the platform. He recently announced on a Sunday morning that the iconic bird logo and even the entire "Twitter" brand will eventually be phased out. Approximately 24 hours later, the well-known blue bird silhouette was replaced on the company's website with a sleek, black-and-white stylized "X."
The new branding was quickly adopted across Twitter's corporate accounts and was even projected onto the company's San Francisco headquarters overnight. Linda Yaccarino, Twitter's chief executive, shared the excitement by posting, "Lights. Camera. X!" along with a photo of the building featuring the new branding.
This "X" symbolizes Mr. Musk's vision of an "everything app," a comprehensive platform that could integrate social media, instant messaging, and payment services, much like the widely used Chinese app WeChat.
According to Mr. Musk, acquiring Twitter serves as a catalyst in the development of "X," and the entity he established to acquire and manage Twitter is known as X Holdings.
Mr. Musk made this announcement during an early Sunday Twitter audio livestream, expressing that the logo change was long overdue, and he apologized for the delay.
This "X" symbolizes Mr. Musk's vision of an "everything app," a comprehensive platform that could integrate social media, instant messaging, and payment services, much like the widely used Chinese app WeChat.
According to Mr. Musk, acquiring Twitter serves as a catalyst in the development of "X," and the entity he established to acquire and manage Twitter is known as X Holdings.
Mr. Musk made this announcement during an early Sunday Twitter audio livestream, expressing that the logo change was long overdue, and he apologized for the delay.
A few hours after the livestream, Mr. Musk informed Twitter's employees via email that they are indeed transitioning to "X." He concluded the email with a salute emoji, signifying that it would be his final message from a Twitter email account
Having taken the company private during his acquisition, Mr. Musk faces relatively few obstacles in implementing such changes at the firm. However, there is a possibility of encountering resistance from the banks that have provided him with substantial loans and the private investors he brought into the deal. These stakeholders may express concerns about relinquishing one of Twitter's most prominent assets - its recognizable logo and branding
The company experienced a significant drop in advertising revenue, primarily due to the departure of sales executives and concerns about an increase in problematic content on the platform. Additionally, a new well-funded competitor named Threads, similar to Twitter, has emerged from Meta, the owner of Facebook.
At the time of reporting, Twitter did not provide an immediate response to the request for comment.
Mr. Musk has shown a longstanding fondness for the letter X. He co-founded X.com, an online bank, back in 1999 and later merged it with another startup to create PayPal. In 2017, he mentioned repurchasing the X.com domain from PayPal.
While Mr. Musk has not always followed through on some of his public statements, such as the creation of a content moderation council to determine acceptable speech on the platform, he has indeed made changes to certain Twitter practices. For example, he discontinued the free verification of prominent users' accounts, previously represented by a white-and-blue checkmark, and instead introduced a subscription fee for obtaining the checkmark.
Having taken the company private during his acquisition, Mr. Musk faces relatively few obstacles in implementing such changes at the firm. However, there is a possibility of encountering resistance from the banks that have provided him with substantial loans and the private investors he brought into the deal. These stakeholders may express concerns about relinquishing one of Twitter's most prominent assets - its recognizable logo and branding
The company experienced a significant drop in advertising revenue, primarily due to the departure of sales executives and concerns about an increase in problematic content on the platform. Additionally, a new well-funded competitor named Threads, similar to Twitter, has emerged from Meta, the owner of Facebook.
At the time of reporting, Twitter did not provide an immediate response to the request for comment.
Mr. Musk has shown a longstanding fondness for the letter X. He co-founded X.com, an online bank, back in 1999 and later merged it with another startup to create PayPal. In 2017, he mentioned repurchasing the X.com domain from PayPal.
While Mr. Musk has not always followed through on some of his public statements, such as the creation of a content moderation council to determine acceptable speech on the platform, he has indeed made changes to certain Twitter practices. For example, he discontinued the free verification of prominent users' accounts, previously represented by a white-and-blue checkmark, and instead introduced a subscription fee for obtaining the checkmark.
Noteworthy Points:
- The change was observed on Monday morning on the web version of Twitter.
- The new logo is a white stylized "X" on a black background, serving as the badge for company employee-linked accounts.
- Twitter's official account (@Twitter) has been rebranded as "X," displaying only the new logo as a profile picture and a bio saying "What's happening?!"
- Some other Twitter accounts, such as @TwitterCreators and @verified, have already been updated with the new logo, while the main support account (@TwitterSupport) still shows the blue bird as of the current time.
- The mobile apps continue to display the blue bird, but it is expected to change after updating them.