After purchasing Twitter for $44 billion Elon Musk has revealed his intention to revamp the platform by replacing its bird logo with an “X”. This strategic move aims to draw in advertisers and boost revenue through the introduction of a subscription service. However, Musk’s leadership has not been, without its share of criticism, particularly concerning content restrictions and a decline in revenue. Interestingly an alternative platform called Threads has been gaining traction as a competitor, to Twitter.
Elon Musk announced on Sunday his plans to change the Twitter logo from the bird to an “X “marking the biggest update since he acquired the social media platform for $44 billion a year ago. Taking to his Twitter account after midnight ET Musk stated that he intends to implement this change by Monday. “Soon we’ll bid farewell to the Twitter brand and gradually phase out all references to birds ” Musk shared on his account.
“X.com now points to https://twitter.com/. Interim X logo goes live later today,” tweeted Mr Musk.
This month the renowned Tesla CEO implemented restrictions, on his digital community platform, which received criticism due to concerns that it might deter advertisers and diminish its cultural influence as a trendsetter.
The increased threshold for tweet visibility is part of a subscription service priced at $8 per month introduced by Musk this year in an effort to boost Twitter’s revenue. Since taking over the company and implementing cost-cutting measures including layoffs affecting three-fourths of the workforce revenue has experienced a decline as the company aims to avoid bankruptcy.
In May Musk appointed Linda Yaccarino, an executive, from NBC Universal as Twitter’s CEO.
Attracting advertisers is crucial, for Musk and Twitter especially after many companies withdrew their support during the months of Musk’s takeover. They were concerned about harm to their brand due to the atmosphere on the platform. The decrease in advertising spending can be attributed, in part to changes made by Musk that allowed hateful content to thrive and offended a portion of the platform’s users.
Musk mentioned in April that advertisers have returned. He didn’t provide specific details. Additionally, Musk’s decision to change Twitter’s logo to an “X” coincides with Metas app Threads, which poses competition for Twitter. Threads have been considered as an alternative for those who have grown dissatisfied with Twitter.
Threads is being promoted as a text-based version of Metas photo sharing app Instagram. According to a post by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, within five days of its launch Threads attracted 100 million users who signed up for real-time updates and public conversations.
