Twitter becomes X: what is behind this name change?

Changes without transformation

Since taking office at the head of the social network, Elon Musk has chained announcements and changes on Twitter. If we do the accounts, we quickly realize the upheavals brought to the platform. First, the end of free certifications, then finally, the announcement of a complex badge system, then the introduction of certification for Twitter Blue, followed by a drastic lowering of moderation rules. It is already a lot ?

Twitter introduces a new feature that limits non-verified users from messaging verified users. pic.twitter.com/bGTUEJ1khv

—PopBase (@PopBase) July 15, 2023

Yes, but it’s not over. After announcing the move to the Single API, Musk implemented restrictions on access to Twitter as well as the News Feed, especially for non-premium profiles, as well as a set of visibility restrictions for these accounts. For example, from now on, a classic profile has a limited number of private messages per day.

Twitter changes name to X

All of these changes took place in just a few months. An intense pace to which are added massive layoffs, which have also led some defectors to join the Threads by Instagram project, a competitor to Twitter. Logically, this sequence has come to darken the situation of Twitter, already not very bright financially.

Bye our friend🙏🏻 You will be missed.#TwitterX #TheX #GoodbyeTwitter #TwitterIsDead #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/XQE6OB2CoM

—Fresa (@FresaFluffyFox) July 24, 2023

So, like many brands in difficulty before it, the platform indicated by the voice of its owner a change of name. From now on, Twitter will be called X. Just X. A nod to X.com, the company Musk founded that became PayPal? Since the announcement, many users have been concerned about the sustainability of the social network, which is ending its transformation with this new name. For many of them, this is just the latest thrust for a platform in an advanced state of degradation.

Is Twitter still a free network?

But in the end, what is the consequence of all these changes? In fact, few users have actually left the platform, although the trend seems to be accelerating slightly since the name change. In fact, for Musk, it is above all a question of making as much profit as possible from his social network, even if it means destroying the free experience of Twitter.

So the question arises. If Twitter is full of faults, it is nonetheless a complete, practical and powerful social network. However, all these benefits are largely based on the concept being free. With the transition to X, the platform seems to confirm its path towards an assumed freemium concept. A choice that could, in the medium term, mean its end.