Twitter Users React Negatively To Elon Musk’s ‘X’ Rebrand

After billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk purchased Twitter in the fall of 2022, users of the legacy social media platform continue to criticize many of his business decisions. After months of ending legacy verification, limiting restrictions on hate speech, and more controversial policies, Musk has now enacted perhaps the most controversial one yet–changing the name of the platform entirely. Twitter, which was founded by Jack Dorsey in 2006, is now to be known as “X.”

The platform’s name change and rebrand was announced over the weekend, and Twitter users everywhere awoke to a new logo. Naturally, the memes and Twitter alternatives poured in. Dorsey’s competitor app, Bluesky, is yet to be widely released. Instagram’s Threads was released in July 2023, to a record-breaking amount of sign ups from fed up Twitter users and curious Instagram users.

Internet Reactions

Major brands, celebrities, influencers, and the average user all have a lot to say about ‘X.’  Many are sharing humorous images depicting the letter.

Elsewhere, others began to suspect that the rebrand would give way to a surge in sign ups for the growing list of Twitter competitors. Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky have all seen a spike in popularity since Musk’s purchase of Twitter, given his many controversial moves. Mastodon has been a favorite among journalists, many of whom now feel that Twitter’s current state allows for the spread of misinformation.

Others recognized that since Twitter’s original name is now technically up for grabs, Jack Dorsey can take back what he created. Mark Zuckerberg could also continue his alleged rivalry with Musk, renaming Threads to Twitter.

Why Is Twitter Now X?

Elon Musk stepped down as CEO recently, instead stepping in as CTO and appointing former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccharino. The CEO took to the platform to vaguely explain what the “X” rebrand means.

Yaccharino’s explanation is receiving widespread criticism. Many argue that they signed up for Twitter years ago, and did not want to be pushed into using a platform that they feel has unnecessary and potentially dangerous features. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently come into the public forefront of criticism for an unrelated reason–the ongoing joint WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, in which major film and television studios vow to replace writers and actors with AI versions of themselves.

Others argued that they simply wanted the hate speech on the platform to be eradicated, and that the additional features could wait.

Musk has not posted to the platform since last night, when he shared this image of a letter “X” projected onto company headquarters.

As of today, San Francisco police reportedly shut the projection down, as Musk did not have the necessary city permits to rent the equipment.

Musk is yet to comment on the public criticism of Twitter’s rebrand, and neither have the CEOs of Twitter’s primary competitor apps.

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