Image: Twitter
One of the last remnants of Twitter’s erstwhile identity will likely disappear as Musk plans to rebrand the Twitter blue bird logo as X.
Elon Musk has announced his plan to change the Twitter logo from the iconic blue bird to an X, falling in line with an ongoing rebranding effort that started when he changed the name of the parent company to X Corp earlier this year.
“And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted yesterday (23 July). The potential replacement X logo design is now displayed on his profile picture as well as next to the blue tick on his handle.
In a separate, vague tweet, he explained the logo change by saying the X embodies “the imperfections in us all that make us unique”.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
Several reports have claimed Musk wants to turn Twitter into a ‘superapp’ similar to China’s WeChat, where users can avail of social media, instant messaging and instant payment services.
This comes just weeks after Meta’s Threads become one of the fastest growing social media apps in recent years earlier this month, when the app surpassed more than 100m users less than five days after its launch. While the traffic rush has slowed down, Musk is watching.
Linda Yaccarino, who took over as Twitter CEO in May, called X the “future state of unlimited interactivity” that will encompass everything from audio, video and messaging to payments and banking, creating a “global marketplace” for goods and services.
Lights. Camera. X! pic.twitter.com/K9Ou47Qb4R
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023
“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” Yaccarino tweeted. “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.”
Many users took to what’s left of Twitter to complain about the logo change. But this is not the first time Musk has angered legacy users. The site recently imposed limits to the number of tweets that accounts can see in a day, in a bid to tackle data scraping from other companies.
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