Let’s not pretend that “Twitter” was one of the all-time great brand names. It conveyed a sense of frivolity that may have been attractive at first, but that also made it easy to avoid taking it seriously, even as the service was becoming integral to the business and political worlds. Historians will one day look back at the fact that “tweets” could move markets and raise nuclear tensions, and justifiably roll their eyes.
But while Twitter’s terminology was dumb, at least it was user-friendly; everyone knows what you mean when you say “tweet” or “retweet.” The language that comes with the site’s new name—X, as of last night—is by comparison very badly thought through.
The “X” name itself was trailed nearly a year ago by owner Elon Musk, who once had a separate online bank called X.com that morphed into PayPal, and who named one of his kids X, and who stuck it in the names of both his space and A.I. ventures. So while “X” may sound like a cheap energy drink marketed at teenage boys, or something a particularly dull Apprentice contestant might suggest as a team name, it’s certainly not a surprise.
What is surprising—maybe—is the lack of thought that went into the rebranding of core Twitter functionality.
According to Musk, tweets are now called “x’s,” which is a branding nightmare on multiple levels. Firstly, lovers of the English language will now be forced to hold their noses and stick an apostrophe where it doesn’t belong, à la Musk, or to write it out as “xs”, which reads (perhaps appropriately) as “excess.” However it’s written, there’s also an obvious problem with referring to “x’s” that can be best demonstrated by this short exchange: “Did you see Elon’s latest X?” “No. What’s her name?”
Then there’s the fact that, since Windows 95 came out a generation ago, the whole world has been trained to see an “x” as the button you press to close something. Which may be why, at the time of writing, X still incongruously features a “tweet” button. (Speaking of preexisting associations, Musk may describe the new X logo as “minimalist Art Deco,” but some have noted it’s actually just a 22-year-old Unicode symbol that he’ll have trouble protecting.)
And what about retweeting? The Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account asked that very question, to which Musk replied: “That whole concept should be rethought.” I mean, that’s one way to announce a thoroughly fundamental change to the service’s core nature, but it prompts the question: Did Musk decide to rethink retweets before, or did he belatedly realize there’s no elegant way to fit the concept into the new branding?
If Musk spent last night waging war on the English language, his deputy, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, once again took the fight to reality itself. “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity—centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking—creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” she x’d (?), stretching the meaning of the word “centered” well past its breaking point. “Powered by A.I., X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
I for one can’t wait. Twitter is dead. Long live the “close” button.
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David Meyer
