X, formerly Twitter, just took the @x handle without informing its owner
%2Favatars%2FEwuSxftyWaVt.png&w=96&q=75)
%2F2023%2F07%2F27%2Fimage%2Fjpeg%2Fhl9SaW4sWyi45EMTZAinthjxUvIewTHWuRZ6WxfD.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
The mountain of problems at X, previously known as Twitter, is rising.
Twitter changed its official handle to @x but failed to inform or compensate the owner of the handle. The previous owner, Gene Hwang of the creative agency Orange Photography, confirmed as much to TechCrunch.
Hwang claims that X didn’t reach out to him regarding the change and that he was taken aback since his account was set to private.
However, X sent a letter to Hwang stating that the @x handle would be affiliated with X Corp. in the future and that he would be assigned a new handle.
X offers merch and company tours instead of money
X owner Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last year and changed the company's name from Twitter Inc. to X Corp in April.
The company said Hwang’s data and followers would remain untouched and be transferred to his new handle. Instead, He could reply to the email to let X know what handle he would like. The company also offered him X merch and a tour of the HQ to meet the members of the X team.
“It would have been nice for them to compensate for it since it did have a lot of value to me, but things are what they are,” he said. “Maybe I should ask for the bird from the sign since they were dismantling that yesterday too.”
Hwang was referring to the video posted on social media showing a crew taking down the Twitter sign outside its San Francisco headquarters. But the team couldn’t finish the job as they didn’t have the permit to block the road to carry out the job.
The X account of his company Orange Photography still reads: “Corporate, portrait & event photography/videography studio founded by @x & @jackhuynh.” But once you click on the @x handle, it takes you to the microblogging company’s handle.
People can buy or sell popular usernames, and the compensation ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The company was once mulling over selling some usernames through online auctions to boost its revenues, reported the New York Times in January.
The CEO of courting controversy
Although it seems Hwang won't be pressing charges after he tweeted, “All’s well that ends well,” this is the last of the problems that Elon Musk’s X is currently facing.
Alls well that ends well
— x (@x12345678998765) July 26, 2023
Rival companies Meta and Microsoft had trademarked ‘X’ many years ago so that X may get sued.
The rollout of X hasn't been remarkably smooth. The site still asks you to push a blue button to tweet something.
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/9yGfJEn6GlSnUjzawTrh9z6QZMlkjMyvjLQFY9Yc.jpg "Parker Solar Probe safely traverses CME event, touches Sun")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/CBVh8844CyZW0BUmphFlksoDPFxyFFKSmNCRoJFa.jpg "Motagua River: The most trashed river on earth")
/2023/08/03/image/jpeg/a4peRyX4ysBOqbw4BbDHzMCIbTjXOWejwu83UrQp.jpg "You can hear silence, claim researchers, settling an old debate")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/iBzUIeAY9BjQbNWONJDTLFl44q5qfD1xNfeysz8A.jpg "Gene-edited spider silk 6x stronger than bulletproof Kevlar")
/2023/09/12/image/jpeg/7ZU03vLOnlFnHbET1pxVv2vlF9S2R5ZekupSiNl0.jpg "From lost wings to ruptured fuselages, 7 times planes refused to die")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/ma9NSROdl9Z18Uvxq1fYKeb8OJ2dokINYsHqupec.jpg "First space drug factory stuck in orbit after reentry denial")
/2023/08/15/image/jpeg/3ADnsR8aU7X67YVp1xAQ4daq6u8JVlTTLmG0Rx6c.jpg "What is pre-war steel, and why are people stealing it?")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/noLW9uHoT66M08SaYrnHQczrj6gY0pqbhYQgBwUl.jpg "This lithium-free e-bike from Pi-Pop needs no batteries")
/2023/08/12/image/jpeg/1xpgw9M0j07fJWL4SukxFDjALW7dwwo6wjsgbU0t.jpg "Magnetic fields reveal lost undersea worlds")
/2023/09/07/image/jpeg/xoPruys7ISOZUopRgsd0FMoNwmVlULDmnFUamkjf.jpg "Is fusion energy getting any closer to reality?")