Twitter CEO unveils new logo 'X', bids adieu to the iconic blue bird

Earlier, Elon Musk had disclosed his vision to transform the social media platform into an all-inclusive 'everything' app, similar to how WeChat is utilized in China.

Ameya Paleja

| Jul 24, 2023 05:02 AM EST

Created: Jul 24, 2023 05:02 AM EST

culture

Elon Musk rebrands Twitter logo.

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Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has unveiled the social media platform's new logo as the company moves toward becoming an 'everything' app under Elon Musk's leadership. The new logo was shared by the new CEO on the social media platform,

Lights. Camera. X! pic.twitter.com/K9Ou47Qb4R
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023

Twitter's rebrand to X has been in the works for a while now with former CEO Musk working to kill Twitter's legal identity and merge the social media platform into his X Corp.

Musk had previously revealed that he wants to turn the social media platform into an 'everything' app, much like WeChat is used in China. However, he does not seem to believe that broadening the company's scope requires additional teams and technical members. This comes after he fired over half of Twitter's staff upon assuming control of the company.

Crowdsourced logo

Like most decisions taken by Musk at Twitter, whether it be pulling the plug on some of its servers on Christmas Eve or bringing down the number of tweets accessible to users, the recent decision to change the company's logo also appears to be taken on a whim over the weekend.

According to The Guardian, Musk appealed to his 149 million followers to design a logo for X and then picked it from one of the suggestions, which he then shared on his profile.

pic.twitter.com/IwcbqMnQtA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

Musk also admitted that the logo would be "definitely refined" going forward but twelve hours later, the image was displayed on Twitter HQ and shared by Yaccarino who called it a "rare second chance" to make a big impression.

One might expect a corporate rebranding to involve a design company and be implemented more consistently. However, despite Musk and his team urging users to bid farewell to the iconic blue bird, it continues to be prominently displayed throughout the platform.

Twitter is now X

The transition of a brand, however, tumultuous, is often a short-lived affair, and Twitter's transition with all its flaws will also be soon forgotten. The focus for both people and the company lies in what comes next, and CEO Yaccarino took the opportunity to provide insight into their future plans.

In a tweet, Yaccarino said that X would be "centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking" and connect people in newer ways. The platform will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI), in what seems an obvious role of Musk's newest venture X.AI and will "transform the global town square".

While platforms like Mastodon and Meta's recently unveiled Threads are looking to shake Twitter off its perch, Musk, and Yaccarino are working to transform the platform into an everything app that will "deliver everything".

Taking such a bold step is commendable, especially considering that the company is yet to determine how it will boost its revenues. And now it must expand its capacities to accommodate new offerings that are not yet clearly defined.

Since Musk took Twitter private, there has been speculation about whether the platform's essence was lost. Now, with planned changes to its appearance and name, the future of tweets, or what they will be called, remains uncertain after the transition is finalized.

What will users hang on to, if the platform transforms beyond recognition? Perhaps just the promise of an all-encompassing app.