Twitter's New 'X' Logo Sends The Familiar Blue Bird Packing
Twitter has undergone an enormous transition since Elon Musk assumed control over the company in October of 2022. From changing how tweets get sorted in the feed, to limiting benefits primarily to Twitter Blue subscribers, Musk's intention of generating a profit over his $44 billion purchase has been clear — although far from realized. Musk, however, insists he is doing this "to try and help humanity," and wants to create an integrated social app with a completely different identity. Twitter's most recent change is in pursuit of this distinct identity.
Today, Twitter is ditching the customary blue bird logo and replacing it with the alphabet letter "X." These changes align with Musk's ambitions to gradually push Twitter from a micro-blogging platform to an "everything app" similar to China's WeChat. The change in Twitter's logo is one more nail in the proverbial coffin meant for Twitter's existing identity, and follows Twitter Inc.'s official integration into X Corp in April 2023.
The current "X" is supposed to be an "interim logo," as Musk suggested in another tweet several hours before the change went live. The said logo was notably presented by Twitter user Sawyer Merritt, who offered the logo in response to Musk's call for a new one. Musk chose the most minimal version of the bunch suggested by Merritt, but said it would be refined later.
More permanent than the last interim logo
The duration of how long this new logo will be in use is unclear, but it will likely last longer than the Dogecoin symbol that briefly replaced Twitter's blue bird logo in April 2023.
Lights. Camera. X! pic.twitter.com/K9Ou47Qb4R
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023
The updated logo was also celebrated by Twitter's recently-appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino. In a separate tweet, Yaccarino also shared an image of the "X" logo being cast onto Twitter's San Francisco building, while the dilapidated Twitter signage was cut out from the frame. The older logo may have already been cut off the building, potentially "with blowtorches," just as Musk had suggested during a Twitter Spaces chat called "No one talk until we summon Elon Musk" on Sunday.
The executive echoed Musk's idea of the "everything app" in a Twitter thread, writing, "X is the future state of unlimited interactivity — centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking." The suggested ecosystem will also include xAI, Musk's newfound AI startup. As per Musk, the company intends to utilize AI not in service to empowering the workforce, but instead will use AI to "understand reality," the extent of which has not been elaborated on.
Besides Musk's vision for the everyday app, the new naming also coincides with "X.com," a company founded by Musk in 1999 to facilitate digital transactions and later evolved into PayPal after a merger with a competitor. Musk purchased the domain name from PayPal in 2017, and as of now, the URL x.com also points to Twitter.