Twitter, the popular social media platform, is undergoing a dramatic transformation. CEO Elon Musk recently announced that the platform will change its name to X.com, accompanied by a new logo featuring the letter X instead of the iconic blue bird.
In a Twitter poll that reached his massive following of 149.1 million users, Musk asked whether the site’s color scheme should shift from blue to black as part of the rebranding process. This change marks Musk’s farewell to the Twitter brand, signaling a new era for the platform.
During an interview on Twitter Spaces, Musk expressed his belief that the rebranding should have happened sooner. Being the owner of other influential companies like Tesla and xAI, he purchased Twitter in October and intends to remove the logo from its headquarters building using blowtorches. Musk announced that the X logo would officially launch on Sunday.
However, this rebranding decision has attracted some criticism. Jason Goldman, Twitter’s former head of product, expressed skepticism about replacing a globally recognized brand with what he called a “generic placeholder symbol.” He pointed out a previous controversial rebrand where Warner Bros. Discovery removed HBO from this Max streaming platform, causing backlash.
For Musk, the letter X holds deep significance. His space exploration company bears the name SpaceX, while his online banking start-up was originally named X.com before becoming PayPal. Moreover, Musk has given his son an unconventional name—initially “X AE A-12” (later revised to “X AE A-Xii” to comply with Californian naming regulations)—which he fondly refers to as “X.”
The response from advertisers will play a crucial role in determining the success of Twitter’s rebranding. Musk admitted that the platform’s advertising revenue has declined by 50% and hasn’t rebounded as quickly as anticipated, resulting in continued negative cash flow throughout the second quarter.
