Elon Musk rebranding Twitter to “X” isn’t just a poor branding decision, it’s another example of Musk’s arrogance controlling his leadership style.
When Musk acquired Twitter last year, the future of the platform was unclear. Many believed Musk would allow more “free speech” on the platform, but it soon became clear that Twitter’s future was not quite as simple as the multi-billionaire let on.
Nothing illustrates Musk’s arrogance like his recent rebranding of Twitter to “X.” Musk hopes that X will become an “everything” app that can be used to pay bills, make purchases online, book appointments and chat with friends. While this might sound like an ambitious idea, it risks the formerly intuitive app becoming a complicated mess of random ideas shoved together, something that certainly doesn’t bode well with Musk’s impulsive nature.
But even before Musk’s grander ideas can be implemented, the rebrand has already proven negative for the platform. By rebranding Twitter’s iconic bird theme to the letter X atop a black background, Musk has not only killed the platform’s recognizable branding – he has removed Twitter’s personality and soul.
Even the X logo’s design is soulless at its very core: it’s remarkably similar to the letter X from the font “Special Alphabets 4,” which can be purchased online for $30 USD. While the font’s creator, Monotype, evaluated the logo and determined that it was not taken from their work, it’s still worth noting that the multi-billion dollar company’s logo is now essentially indistinguishable from a font available for public purchase.
This change is not for the betterment of the platform or its users; it’s an attempt to stroke Musk’s ever-growing ego. Simply put, Musk wants the platform to be called X, and he doesn’t care what his userbase thinks about it. The fact that 69% of the platform’s American users continue referring to the site as “Twitter” is irrelevant to Musk – the website is his fun new toy, and he’s going to play with it as he desires.
Under Musk, tweets have become “posts” and retweets have become “reposts.” In his attempt to make the platform edgy, Musk has removed all of the brand’s unique identity in favour of making it as generic and unremarkable as possible.
The problem is made worse yet with Musk’s specific choice of the letter “X” to represent the brand, leading many people to worry that the platform’s branding has become reminiscent of adult film sites. To someone unfamiliar with the platform, telling them to visit “x.com” will likely paint a different mental picture – but again, Musk prioritizes his personal whims over users’ perspectives.
The choice of “X” as the company’s new “identity” is especially interesting because of Musk’s seemingly long-standing obsession with the letter. This strange fascination has been clear for decades: it’s a prominent fixture in the name of his company SpaceX, he has created a new corporate body called “X Holdings,” his new AI-based company is called “xAI” and one of his children is named X Æ A-Xii.
In 2000, Musk was in charge of PayPal. He attempted to rebrand the company to “X,” but was ousted from the company before he could bring his lifeless vision to fruition. When PayPal sold the x.com domain to Musk in 2017, Musk thanked the company in a tweet, citing the domain had “great sentimental value” to him.
It’s unclear as to why Musk is obsessed with the 24th letter of the alphabet. Regardless, his rebranding of Twitter is just another example on his ever-growing list of self-obsessed attempts to reform Twitter to fit his personal liking.
When Musk took over Twitter, the acquisition had the potential to become an exciting change of pace for the platform – under new management, there was no saying where Twitter might go next. Unfortunately, by allowing his arrogance to become a driving force in his leadership, the formerly-distinct social platform has become nothing more than Musk’s personal funhouse – and he’s going to drag along the platform’s massive userbase for the ride.