Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of Twitter, made a huge announcement on Sunday, revealing the social media giant would be changing its name, logo, and overall future of the platform, something that is almost totally unprecedented with a company this size and with this much influence on popular culture. Perhaps this could be the beginning of the major plans company owner Elon Musk spoke of when he first purchased the platform last year? Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but honestly, I’m optimistic that we might actually see a social media platform that truly believes in the principles and concepts of freedom of speech.
“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,” Yaccarino posted on the site. “Now, X will go further, transforming 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,” she added. “Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
Okay, I won’t lie. The bit about being powered by AI freaks me out more than a little bit. Maybe I’ve watched too many science-fiction movies from the 1980s-1990s and thus, suffer from a massive case of unfounded paranoia? Nah, I think I’m reasonable weirded out by a man-made creation that can basically think its own thoughts.
Musk stated in a tweet posted late last week that the site would be transitioning over to the new brand in the coming days.
“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk explained. He also made the announcement that X.com now redirects to Twitter. The billionaire also sought out ideas for logo designs for the website, writing over the weekend, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow.”
Musk stated later on that they had settled on a “minimalist” design, noting small changes would be made to it later down the road.
Going with minimalist art deco on the upper right.
Probably changes later, certainly will be refined.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
🚨 The official Twitter account has rebranded to X. pic.twitter.com/dwpqEmaXB7
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 24, 2023
The Twitter HQ is now known as the X HQ. pic.twitter.com/LDSUVTHFkc
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 24, 2023
“For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential. X will do that and more,” Yaccarino remarked. “We’ve already started to see X take shape over the past 8 months through our rapid feature launches, but we’re just getting started.”
“There’s absolutely no limit to this transformation,” she later went on to say. “X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything. @elonmusk and I are looking forward to working with our teams and every single one of our partners to bring X to the world.”
There’s absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything. @elonmusk and I are looking forward to working with our teams and every single one of our partners to bring X to the world.
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 23, 2023
Again, I’m not sure what to expect from the myriad of changes that are set to take place once the branding changes, which will basically serve as a do over for the company, but I’m hoping they will be eager to shake its former reputation as being a hub of censorship and instead, seek to promote freedom of speech, allowing people from all walks of life to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas without fear of being silenced.