So how’s Twitter’s ‘X’ transition going?

Glad you asked. As Elon Musk looks to reform the app, and have us all sending x’s (instead of tweets), he’s already commissioned a redesign of Twitter HQ in San Francisco, which is now dominated by the company’s new black color scheme, with pirate treasure-like X’s all over the walls  (despite the new ‘X’ logo apparently being an ‘interim branding measure’), while he’s also now taken back the @X handle, which, till yesterday, was held by a user.

Elon probably bought it from that user, right?

Nope, the X team just took it. Apparently, the user had sought to sell it, for a million dollars, then the X team took it back, as selling account handles is in violation of Twitter/X rules.

So now, @X is the new home of Twitter, while it’s also switched over various official handles to X-related names.

Yes, ‘Get better at X. Get better at business’. Certainly has no ring to it whatsoever.

So if you thought that maybe the Twitter brand would somehow live on, and that you’d just keep referring to tweets and retweets, etc., maybe not, as Elon does indeed appear to be pushing ahead with a full transformation, which will eventually eradicate the Twitter name from existence.

Elon has also, reportedly, now been given permission to replace the well-known Twitter sign on the office, after a disagreement over permits halted its removal earlier this week, while the company’s also now debating product naming methodology and process, in line with the new identity.

So yes, soon Twitter will fully transition to Elon’s long-held X dream, which will have a big impact on the social media landscape, and could change more than just the aesthetic identity of the app.

With the shift to X, the app also takes on more of Elon’s identity, in alignment with his political and ideological perspective. At the same time, Musk also continues to weigh in on world events via his tweets (or x’s). Just this week, the X owner has pushed COVID conspiracy theories, amplified misogynistic content from Andrew Tate, criticized perceived government censorship, and more.

At the same time, he’s also trying to win back more advertisers, by re-sharing their ads to his 150 million followers, while X is also threatening to remove its new gold checkmarks from brands that don’t keep up their regular ad spend.

It’s an unusual pitch, which is more of what X is about, enforcing selective rules around ‘free speech’ and usage, while also looking to keep brands spending in the app, despite concerns around the former.

It seems unlikely that the X re-brand is going to shift perception in this respect, and if anything, it could make things worse, with the new version of the app seemingly set to adopt an even more unapologetic approach to enforcing Musk’s vision.

Which is really what this is. X is Elon Musk’s version of ‘free speech’ and equity, it mirrors his perspective and beliefs, be it inconsistent, reactive, outright wrong, etc.

The new X app embodies all of this, which may well be the prompt that pushes more of those who don’t agree away from the app.