Mint Quick Edit | Twitter’s dead, long live Twitter!
More than a year after Twitter was rebranded as X, the microblog app’s old name retains its power. So much so that even its owner Elon Musk referred to it by that name.
Reacting to Brazil’s decision to ban X, Musk posted a meme that said, “POV: VPN companies after Brazil banned Twitter," hinting at how the ban can be short-circuited. But his use of Twitter instead of X was picked up by social media observers as evidence of his rebranding exercise having failed.
It’s no surprise that the original name retains its hold over our subconscious, given how well it captured the idea of airing short messages, just as birds do. The bird-call analogy went perfectly with its little blue avian logo and the term “tweets" for messages aired by featherless bipeds like us.
Indeed, Twitter was a case of superlative branding. That Musk wanted an identity makeover after he acquired it in 2022 seemed like a poor business decision, even though X had the advantage of sounding like a random variable that could span a wide range of services.
It’s clear that X is no longer the platform it once was. But Musk should still consider re-adopting a brand name that endeared itself to so many and retains space in our minds.
. Read more on livemint.com
