Elon Musk’s Pivot to X Draws Strong Opinions Across Twitter

livemint.com:

Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter to X elicited excitement, exasperation and effrontery from users as they adjusted to the billionaire’s latest change in remaking the social-media platform he acquired last year. Reactions in the Twitterverse after Musk’s announcement on Sunday ranged from dismay at Musk bringing an end to Twitter’s globally recognized blue bird brand to jokes and sarcasm about the new “X" branding to excitement about the billionaire’s ambition to turn X.com into a so-called everything app—in which the platform would offer an array of services including audio, video, messaging and banking.

Musk has moved swiftly to put his mark on the platform, including sweeping job cuts, charging for verification, and content-moderation changes such as reinstating many previously suspended accounts. The changes have been polarizing, upsetting many Twitter users but appealing to others who like the billionaire’s vision.

At the same time, Twitter’s business has struggled after many advertisers pulled back from the platform in part because of concerns over Musk’s approach to content moderation. Musk tweeted earlier this month that Twitter had a “~50% drop in advertising revenue." He also said this month looked “a bit more promising" compared with June.

Advertising executives said the new branding isn’t likely to persuade brands that have paused ad spending on the platform to return, but also isn’t likely to turn off advertisers who have stuck with the platform so far under Musk’s ownership, as long as users also stay. “The recent announcement of a rebrand won’t do much in the way of swaying advertisers one way or another," said Brendan Gahan, chief social officer of ad agency Mekanism.