Mary Walrath-HoldridgeUSA TODAY
Love it or hate it, Elon Musk has made another major change to Twitter.
Desktop users who have logged on since Monday likely noticed the restyle first when a simple black-and-white “X” greeted them in place of the iconic blue and white bird logo.
After announcing his plans to rebrand in a series of tweets over the weekend, saying in one: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk posted a photo of a giant “X” projected onTwitter’s headquarters on Monday.
In another step toward reimagining the company’s image, removal of the original “Twitter” signage on the San Francisco office building began on Monday but was stopped halfway through after local police interfered due to permit issues, NBC reported.
Though the blue bird remains temporarily hung outside the office and the mobile version of the app still heavily features the old branding, it looks like Twitter’s future as simply “X” is imminent. What exactly that means is still up in the air: are they still called “tweets?” Will users have to access a new web domain? Is something besides the logo changing? Here’s what we know so far about Twitter's transition to X.
What is Twitter called now?
Elon Musk announced in a series of tweets his intentions to do away with all remnants of the app’s iconic bird-related imagery. Instead, the social media network formerly known as Twitter will be rebranded simply to X, a change that has already been reflected on the desktop, where the spot once reserved for the blue and white bird logo has been replaced with a gray-scale letter X.
While the mobile version of the app still sticks to the blue-and-white color scheme and features the bird image up top, official Twitter accounts, including Musk’s, have been updated to reflect the change. The company’s official handle remains @twitter, but the display username has been changed to a capital X and the profile photo to a black square featuring a white-lined X in the middle. Musk’s account also shares the same profile image and two recent posts about the logo, one calling it “Futuristic Art Deco” while another features a sort of hype reel for the new design.
Typing X.com into the search bar automatically redirects to Twitter, though Twitter.com also still leads to the same landing page.
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Why did Elon Musk change the Twitter logo?
Both Musk and his team have offered a series of explanations for the rebranding.
In one Tweet, Musk said the “X” design served to “embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique,” while in another he pointed out his personal affinity for the letter. Twitter CEOLinda Yaccarino, also in posts shared by Musk, said the overhaul allows for a chance to make a fresh “big impression” and that the new brand will “go further” than Twitter to “transform the global town square.”
“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.”
In a Monday tweet, Musk provided further insight into his thoughts behind the change, saying Twitter is on its way to becoming an “everything app” for use not only in communication but financial transactions as well. According to him, the existing name and branding do not reflect these ambitions.
“Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app. This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing,” he tweeted.
“The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video. In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world. The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird.”
How much did Elon Musk pay for Twitter?
Musk purchased Twitter in October of 2022 for $44 billion. He initially agreed to the deal in April of last year before attempting to back out, claiming Twitter had misrepresented numbers thanks to spam and bots. Twitter responded not only by denying the claims but by suing Musk for completion of the purchase, though the two eventually settled the dispute out of court.
According to prior reporting by USA TODAY, Musk said he overpaid for Twitter and the platform was valued at a mere $25 billion by Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. Musk said he continued with the deal partially because he considered the app one of “great potential” whose revenue he believed he could double in three years.
Even this early in the acquisition, Musk alluded to the development of “X,” the “everything app” and his intentions to utilize Twitter as a piece of that puzzle. Even with these strong ambitions, however, Musk also took on Twitter’s estimated $13 billion in debt at the time of purchase.
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Elon Musk’s son and the letter X
For those that haven’t been paying attention, Musk sort of has a thing for the letter “X.” In fact, this is not his first attempt to name a company after the single letter, as his 1999 money startup was initially called X.com before being renamed PayPal.
Company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., where Musk serves as CEO, is also more commonly known as SpaceX and car brand Tesla, where Musk is also the CEO, even features an “X” car model.
Perhaps his most infamous use of the letter, however, is as a name for his son with singer Grimes, whose full name was originally reported as being “X Æ A-12 Musk." While Grimes originally tweeted an explanation for the name, which was simply pronounced like the letter “X,” it has since been reported that the couple changed the name in order to comply with state law.
What is a Xeet?
One of the biggest questions on everyone’s minds since the change: what are we supposed to call a “tweet” now?
Many users have guessed “xeet,” a variation on the original term “tweet.” Posts alleging to be screenshots of the Twitter help center page including the term “xeet” have even circulated on the platform, though notes beneath those tweets have marked them false and a quick visit to the official help page shows only the term “tweet” and no sign of “xeet.”
Musk answered a tweet (xeet? X?) asking the same question, saying simply that posts would now be called “x’s.” For those worried about grammar, Musk has yet to clarify how “tweeted,” “tweet” or other forms of the work will translate – he “xed?” She “xes?” They “x” often? What about that apostrophe in his answer?
The world does not yet know.
Did Meta already trademark X?
While Musk has already fully committed to the brand transformation, some reports have raised legal questions surrounding the use of the logo and name X, as a number of other companies have already trademarked the letter for their own use.
Perhaps most notably, Meta holds a trademark for an “X” logo for “online social networking services" and "social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming, and application development.” Microsoft also has an “X” registered for use in similar software and social media spaces, though both companies hold only a few of the many trademarks filed around the letter.
While it is not uncommon for many people and companies to have trademarks on similar words, phrases, images, or even letters, the existing rivalry between the brands, especially Meta and Twitter, has led some to speculate a legal battle could ensue.
Other changes
The transition to “X” is the largest change Musk has announced since earlier this month when he put “temporary limits” on the number of tweets users can read based on their subscription level.
Initially, Musk said verified accounts would be limited to reading 6,000 posts daily and unverified accounts would be limited to only 600. A few hours later, he amended this statement by tweeting that rate limits would increase to 8,000 tweets a day for verified accounts, 800 for unverified and 400 for new accounts. An hour after that, he changed it to a limit of 10,000 a day for verified accounts, 1,000 for unverified and 500 for new accounts.
