Elon Musk followed through on his plan to introduce a redesign of Twitter’s logo. Early in the morning on Monday, July 24, a black and white “X” could be seen on the desktop version of the website, the profile picture for Musk’s account and projected at the company’s headquarters.
In addition to the logo redesign, the “X.com” web domain now redirects users to Twitter.com. In response to questions about what tweets would be called when the rebranding is done, Musk said they would be called Xs.
The Twitter logo redesign is just the latest step towards Musk creating what he has called an “everything app” that combines video chats, messaging, streaming and payments.
PayPal was originally founded as “X.com.”
“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,” Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted on Sunday, July 23. “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
Some experts have predicted the new name and Musk’s logo redesign will confuse much of Twitter’s audience. Matt Rhodes, strategy lead at creative agency House 337, told Reuters any changes to a brand so established in popular culture was a risk.
“Only a few brands have become verbs or seen themselves referred to in global news outlets as often as Twitter has,” Rhodes said. “Anything that makes it harder for people to find, or want to open the app on their cluttered phone screens risks harming usage.”
