Musk picks fan-created X as new Twitter logo in abrupt shift

By Vlad Savov

Elon Musk has chosen the new logo for Twitter, replacing its signature blue bird with a stylised X as part of the billionaire’s vision of transforming the 17-year-old service into an everything app.

It only took 24 hours. Late on Saturday, Musk invited his 149 million followers to suggest an X logo, then chose one of the designs and made it his new profile picture. He confirmed in responses to followers that he intends to adopt it as an interim design, which “probably changes later, certainly will be refined.”

Lights. Camera. X! pic.twitter.com/K9Ou47Qb4R

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023

The graphic was later projected on Twitter’s San Francisco offices and adopted as a background image by Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino, who tweeted her support and a photo of the multistory X.

While crowdsourcing the logo, Musk changed his profile information to read “X.com,” a web address that now redirects to corresponding user pages on twitter.com. The move is part of a broader overhaul that will see all familiar “Twitter” and bird branding stripped away, he said.

Twitter’s blue insignia is recognized far beyond the boundaries of the social platform: websites and apps have for years provided sharing tools to tweet directly, and the logo has been imprinted in US history thanks to the proclamations of former US President Donald Trump on the service.

Also Read | X.com now redirects to twitter.com, announces Musk

The abrupt change comes as Twitter faces a steep decline in advertising dollars and a new rival in Meta Platforms Inc.’s Threads, a service that racked up 100 million users within five days of launching this month. The debut of Threads was greeted with derision by Musk, who’s accused it of being a copycat service due to its similarities to Twitter.

The billionaire’s stated intentions for Twitter have fluctuated over time, having initially started as a quest to eliminate bots on the service and preserve free speech. He has since talked about Twitter as an accelerant for delivering X, his vision for an everything-app akin to Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat.

In supporting tweets on Sunday, recently-appointed Yaccarino explained that X is envisioned as an AI-powered “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities.” It would include payments and banking alongside audio, video and messaging.

X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 23, 2023