Twitter is rebranding to X, whether you like it or not

News
By Daryl Baxter
published

Looks like Elon Musk has one more X.

Elon Musk Twitter X
(Image credit: Elon Musk)

Elon Musk announced that Twitter is in the midst of rebranding to 'X', with some changes already starting to take effect.

We've been here before with other major Twitter announcements on weekends, such as introducing a limit on how many tweets you can view in one day if you're not a Twitter Blue subscriber, but this rebrand looks to be something that will stay for the foreseeable.

Musk seems to love the letter 'X', with SpaceX and Tesla's Model X. As of July 24, users are still puzzled as to why this change is taking place, and while CEO Linda Yaccarino has tried to explain why, it's only made matters worse.

X isn't marking the spot

If you've read the above tweet and you still feel confused, you're not alone. It's the type of statement that would fit better on a LinkedIn post with a photo of a MacBook Pro on a beach in Bali.

This change won't just affect you, but it will also affect the brands you use and the content you watch that all mention Twitter in some way - from the hashtags that are displayed, to hosts on reality shows mentioning the site to 'stay in the discussion'.

It's a total brand change that looks to clearly be massaging an ego for no rhyme or reason. For those who remember the days of Twitter when it brought opportunity, discussion, and fun chats with people you've never met before, that time looks to be wrapping up.

There are other alternatives you can look into, such as Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon, but none of them have yet to be the go-to-replacement for Twitter as yet. 

Meta is still yet to bring a chronological feed and other features to Threads, and this impatience is making users leave the platform already. So while Musk is deciding to change a well-known brand to a terrible one, many users may still be stuck to X/Twitter until a true replacement arrives.

Daryl Baxter
Daryl Baxter
Features Editor

Daryl is iMore's Features Editor, overseeing long-form and in-depth articles and op-eds. Daryl loves using his experience as both a journalist and Apple fan to tell stories about Apple's products and its community, from the apps we use everyday to the products that have been long forgotten in the Cupertino archives.

Previously Software & Downloads Writer at TechRadar, and Deputy Editor at StealthOptional, he's also written a book, 'The Making of Tomb Raider', which tells the story of the beginnings of Lara Croft and the series' early development. He's also written for many other publications including WIRED, MacFormat, Bloody Disgusting, VGC, GamesRadar, Nintendo Life, VRV Blog, The Loop Magazine, SUPER JUMP, Gizmodo, Film Stories, TopTenReviews, Miketendo64 and Daily Star.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • FFR
    Reply
  • Wotchered
    So ?
    Reply
  • Jbairdjr
    Waiting for this comment section to explode about how Musk allows Nazis, doesn't stop "disinformation", etc. People will show who the true fascists are when they say this., because they want to censor speech they dont agree with.
    Reply
  • Just_Me_D
    On the surface I disagree with rebranding Twitter to “X”. Will posted comments still be called “tweets”? If its core is still going to functions as what we’ve come to know as Twitter then you might as well leave it as-is.

    Having said that, I don’t know what Musk’s vision is for the rebrand and neither do I know what the service will be like moving forward. I will, however, watch it play out and see if it’ll be successful or not.
    Reply
  • Iconoclysm
    Jbairdjr said:
    Waiting for this comment section to explode about how Musk allows Nazis, doesn't stop "disinformation", etc. People will show who the true fascists are when they say this., because they want to censor speech they dont agree with.
    You obviously do not know what fascism is if you think censoring speech is even a key part of it. Musk literally censors speech he doesn't agree with, by the way...
    Reply
  • Iconoclysm
    Just_Me_D said:
    On the surface I disagree with rebranding Twitter to “X”. Will posted comments still be called “tweets”? If its core is still going to functions as what we’ve come to know as Twitter then you might as well leave it as-is.

    Having said that, I don’t know what Musk’s vision is for the rebrand and neither do I know what the service will be like moving forward. I will, however, watch it play out and see if it’ll be successful or not.
    He's been stuck on calling everything X since forever. He's grown very little since the 1990's...
    Reply
  • Just_Me_D
    Iconoclysm said:
    He's been stuck on calling everything X since forever. He's grown very little since the 1990's...

    I don’t have a problem with him adding the “X” to something “new”, especially if it’s his brand signature. Space X and the X model Tesla seem to be beneficial to him.

    Having said that, it doesn’t make sense to me for him to rebrand Twitter to “X” unless he’s redoing the Twitter logo/branding to include X.

    To be fair, I have NOT read about the rebranding in great detail at this point.
    Reply
  • FFR
    Iconoclysm said:
    He's been stuck on calling everything X since forever. He's grown very little since the 1990's...

    Who cares about his personal growth?

    Col sanders didn’t have much personal growth, and he made great chicken.

    Reply
  • jBrown
    Reminds me of this old gem.


    132771
    Reply
  • Lee_Bo
    In other news:

    Water - Still wet.
    Reply