ELON Musk says Twitter will soon be changing its logo from a bird to an ‘X’ as it looks to drop the current Twitter brand, gradually.
This, if effected, will be the latest significant change to Twitter since Musk bought the social media platform for $44 billion last year.
Musk, in a tweet on his Twitter page, on Sunday, July 22, said, “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
He also noted that “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make (it) go live worldwide tomorrow.”
And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
Shortly after, Musk posted a video of a flickering X.
Musk has made several changes to the app since he acquired it. Earlier in the month, he put a curfew on the digital town square, limiting the number of tweets a user can read daily.
The company came under widespread criticisms from users and marketing professionals who believed it could drive away advertisers and undermine its cultural influence.
Twitter’s daily limit has increased the growth of Threads, a Meta-owned rival service.
Meta unveiled Threads on July 5 as a competitor to Elon Musk’s Twitter, and in less than 24 hours after it was rolled out, more than 30 million people signed up.
The apps had more than 100 million sign-ups within five days of launch.
At Twitter, the bird was temporarily replaced in April by Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu dog, helping drive a surge in the meme coin’s market value.
In May, Musk hired long-time NBC Universal executive Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s CEO to win back advertisers.
The company’s most recent saga is a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, July 18 claiming the firm owes, at least, $500 million in severance pay to former employees.
Musk had laid off more than half its workforce to cut costs after he acquired the firm.
Meanwhile, Twitter threatened a lawsuit after the blockbuster launch of Threads.
Analysts say this is perhaps a clear sign that Twitter viewed the app as a competitive threat.
In a letter, Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Elon Musk, alleged that Meta had engaged in “systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
Responding to the letter, Musk tweeted, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Beloved John is an investigative reporter with International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
You can reach her via: Bjohn@icirnigeria.org