Twitter rebranding elicits mixed reactions from users, advertisers, and investors

Twitter, the popular social media platform, has recently changed its logo to ‘X’ as part of a rebranding exercise initiated by its owner Elon Musk.

Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October 20221, announced his plans to rename the platform on July 23, 20235. He said he would eventually “bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds”.

The new logo, which is a stylized X, is already live on the website and on the official account of the platform. Musk also tweeted that x.com now redirects to twitter.com.

He called this an “interim” logo, suggesting that there might be more changes in the future.

The rebranding is not just cosmetic, but also strategic. Musk said that the focus of Twitter will expand beyond text-based content to include audio, video, messaging, payment/banking and other features that would make it a “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities”.

This is similar to the WeChat app in China, which offers a variety of functions in one app.

The rebranding comes at a time when Twitter is facing stiff competition from other social media platforms, especially Meta’s Threads, which launched earlier this month and surpassed 100 million user sign-ups in its first week. Threads is a text-sharing interface similar to Twitter, but with a 500-character limit for texts and a 5-minute limit for videos.

The rebranding also follows a series of controversial policy changes and mass layoffs by Musk after he took over Twitter. He warned that Twitter was on the edge of bankruptcy due to a steep drop in ad revenue and a heavy debt load.

The implications of the rebranding are not clear yet, but some analysts have speculated that it could either revive Twitter’s fortunes or alienate its loyal user base.

Some users have expressed their displeasure with the new logo and name, while others have welcomed the change and praised Musk’s vision. Some have also used extensions to restore the old bird logo on their browsers.

The market reaction to the rebranding has been mixed as well. Twitter’s stock price rose by 5% on Monday after Musk announced the change, but fell by 3% on Tuesday as investors weighed the risks and opportunities of the new strategy.

Some analysts have said that the rebranding could boost Twitter’s growth potential and attract new users and advertisers, while others have warned that it could erode Twitter’s brand identity and reputation and confuse its existing users and partners.

In summary, Twitter has changed its logo to ‘X’ as part of a rebranding exercise by its owner Elon Musk. The rebranding aims to expand Twitter’s focus beyond text-based content to include other features that would make it an everything app.

The rebranding comes amid fierce competition from other social media platforms and controversy over Musk’s policy changes and layoffs. The rebranding has elicited mixed reactions from users, advertisers, civil society groups and investors.