Elon Musk shares controversial plans to rebrand Twitter
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Social Media
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images / Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Social Media
Elon Musk’s controversial overhaul of Twitter is nowhere near done apparently as the app’s chairman has announced plans for a rebrand.
Twitter users may have to bid farewell to the app’s blue bird logo if Musk, who took over ownership of the app in October for US$44 billion, has his say.
The Twitter chairman tweeted his plans to change the platform in the early hours of Sunday morning (23 July), by asking users via a poll if he should change the default platform colour to black, alongside a link to the Lana Del Rey song ‘Off to the Races’.
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Many Twitter users would likely agree that his choice of song is the only good decision here, as he then proposed getting rid of the classic Twitter brand.
“Frankly, I love the negative feedback on this platform. Vastly preferable to some sniffy censorship bureau,” he tweeted.
He then followed up that Tweet by saying: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
So, what will replace the Twitter bird, you ask?
The Tesla found is keen to see X logos, suggesting that could be the replacement.
“If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow,” he told his 149M followers.
"And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds."
The billionaire tech entrepreneur then posted an video of a flickering “X” and later during a Twitter Spaces audio chat, he replied ‘Yes’ when asked if the Twitter logo will change, adding that ‘it should have been done a long time ago’.
Over on Twitter’s assets, trademarks and guidelines page on its official website, a statement explains why the blue bird is so important.
The statement reads: “Our logo is our most recognizable asset. That’s why we’re so protective of it.
"Take a moment to think about how you apply it and take a read of our Brand Guidelines for examples of how we like you to use it.”
Which leads to a conundrum - if the blue bird ceases to exist, will ‘tweets’ also get a new name because of the clear reference to bird vocalisation?
There’s clearly a lot to think about here.
And surely getting rid of the app's branding so soon after the hugely successful launch of Meta's Threads app, which is undoubtedly Twitter's biggest competitor, seems very risky.
Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the platform has been criticised for a number of changes he introduced.
Namely, a recent update where users are limited to how many tweets they could see a day, which left a lot of Twitter users reeling.
Twitter users are also now being charged for identity verification.