Billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk was mocked online after he announced on Saturday night his plans to retire Twitter's iconic blue bird logo and completely rebrand the platform under the domain x.com.
He tweeted:
"And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds."
You can see his tweet below.
With this statement, Musk hinted at a significant transformation for the social media giant and quickly began rolling out the rebrand in real-time.
He invited his followers to share their ideas for a new "X" logo, promising if a good enough design was posted that night, the new brand would go live worldwide the next day.
True to his word, just hours later, Musk unveiled a glowing "X" graphic in a video. He described the design as partially inspired by Art Deco, a visual style known for its elegance and modernity.
Along with the new logo, Musk revealed some changes to the platform's terminology. Instead of tweets, users will now be posting "Xs," and followers will be referred to as "viewers," adopting a similar phrasing to platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
You can see Musk's video in which he unveils the new "X" logo below.
The hashtag #GoodbyeTwitter began to trend as many acknowledged that the proposed change would make the social media platform unrecognizable.
People were quick to mock Musk and the new logo following the announcement.
Musk's fascination with the letter X is well-documented.
From owning SpaceX, a rocket company, to founding X.com, which evolved into the popular online payment platform PayPal, he has a long history of incorporating the letter into his ventures. Notably, he even named a Tesla SUV as the Model X. Furthermore, his son with singer Grimes bears the distinctive name X Æ A-12.
Twitter's blue bird logo, affectionately known as Larry T. Bird, has been an integral part of the platform since its inception in 2006. Co-founder Biz Stone chose the name in homage to NBA legend Larry Bird, adding a touch of playfulness and charm to the social media site.
Linda Yaccarino, the former NBC Universal executive appointed as Twitter CEO in May, expressed her admiration for Musk's decision to rebrand the social media platform, saying that "X" "will go further" than Twitter ever did, effectively "transforming the global town square.”
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