Elon Musk has spoken about why he suddenly changed the branding on his micro-blogging platform Twitter, changing its name to “X” and eliminating the blue bird logo, as he begins an expansion of the social media platform, into a finance system with communications functions.
On Monday, Musk commenced a sudden overhaul of the site’s branding, changing the company’s famous bird logo to an “X” symbol, and then tweeting out to his followers, “X.com now points to Twitter.com.”
In a series of tweets, the billionaire explained that his goal in purchasing Twitter had been to turn it into an “everything app” within five years which would operate similarly to the Chinese app WeChat. He said his plan would see X offer banking, shopping, texting, and calling, as well as travel booking, stock trading, and other services.
He continued, “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.”
He had announced on Sunday, that Twitter would, “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” as he showed a picture of the X branding displayed on the side of the San Francisco headquarters of the company.
Twitter chief executive Linda Yaccarino said, “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.”
Musk had purchased the micro-blogging platform for $44 billion last year, after it had used the famous blue bird emblem for over a decade. The switch to X has been questioned by some, including those who wonder why he spent $44 billion to purchase the brand only to change it, when he could simply have invested a fraction of the $44 billion to build his own platform from scratch.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, “We believe Musk can be successful over time turning Twitter around to the super-app concept but this will not happen overnight. We like the strategy for Twitter, but X replacing the Twitter iconic birdie is a bit of a head scratcher.”
Everything apps are popular in Asia, where apps such as Tencent’s WeChat offer a number of services for finance, shopping, and communication. However critics point out that combining all of those functions can cede certain freedoms to the app. In China, if the app were to ban a user for speech, they could lose access to the ability to purchase items, access banking, or travel.
