Twitter is officially entering a new era. Elon Musk has revealed the social media platform's new logo, changing his own Twitter display picture in the process.
In a series of tweets relating to the logo change, Musk said the X represented “imperfections” that make humans unique, while CEO Linda Yaccarino called the change “a second chance to make another big impression”.
The news comes just weeks after Elon Musk announced a new AI startup under the name xAI, with the billionaire SpaceX owner gradually consolidating his various business assets around a more unified brand.
Twitter Logo Officially Changed
Twitter's new logo has been officially revealed, with Elon Musk taking the first step to “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds”, as he put it in a Tweet over the weekend.
The change was officially announced with an eerie video that Musk has now pinned to the top of his Twitter feed on Sunday. So far, it's been viewed by over 62 million people, according to Twitter's analytics.
Recently appointed-CEO Linda Yaccarino also tweeted out a picture of the new logo, although it's already been confirmed that it is highly likely to be altered at a later date, and will almost certainly be refined.
X is here! Let’s do this. pic.twitter.com/1VqEPlLchj
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023
The logo now appears instead of the recognizable blue bird when users load up Twitter on their desktops, although it is yet to change on the App and Android Play stores at the time of writing, as well as the Twitter app itself.
The other big news is that X.com – a domain owned by Musk – now redirects to Twitter.com.
What Does X Stand For, and What Does It Mean for Twitter?
On Sunday, Elon Musk said in a tweet that if a good enough “X” logo was posted tonight by a user, he'd make it go live tomorrow – after which Twitter was flooded with different takes on what the new logo should look like.
Musk then posted a modified picture of Twitter's former logo with a black background with the caption “like this but X”. Replying to himself, Musk said that the logo was designed “to embody all of the imperfections in us that make us unique”.
Shortly after the call for designs, Musk changed the logo to one of the submissions sent in by a user.
CEO Linda Yaccarino expanded further on the change, saying in her own series of tweets that X will “transform the global town square.”
“The future state of unlimited interactivity,” she said, “centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
Will Twitter Become the Western WeChat?
Musk has made no secret of his admiration of WeChat, a social media app used by over one billion people in China – nor his desire to create an “everything app” that does something similar.
WeChat is a lot more all-encompassing than any of the social media platforms available in the US, Europe, and the rest of the Western world. Aside from core social media functions (messaging, posting, etc.) you can also read novels, call cabs, order take-out meals, and pay your bills.
Although Twitter is a long way off from being able to cater to these sorts of activities, creating a platform like this was the whole reason why Musk acquired it in the first place.
With Musk evidently unafraid to take risks – and prepared to change the site's logo despite the fact it may change later on – who knows how quickly Twitter might be transformed.
