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Twitter has embarked on a major rebranding effort under Elon Musk, beginning with changing its official handle on the platform from @Twitter to @X. The switch leaves the original @Twitter handle inactive, with a note directing users to follow @X for updates.
According to The Telegraph, the original owner of the @X account was Gene X Hwang. He claims that Elon Musk took over the account without paying. Then, Twitter moved Hwang’s account to a new handle, @x12345678998765. “All’s well that ends well,” Hwang tweeted from his new handle.
Other official Twitter handles have also adopted the “X” branding, like @TwitterSupport, now going by @Support and @TwitterAPI changed to @API. Some regional accounts like Twitter India and Twitter Japan still retain the original name. Twitter’s paid subscription service, Twitter Blue, has also been renamed to @XBlue.
Despite the rebranding, many parts of the Twitter platform and apps still have the original branding and name.
In case you missed it, over the weekend, Elon Musk revealed his intentions to ditch the Twitter Blue bird logo in favor of X which was followed up by making it official by redirecting X.com to Twitter.
However, the X logo for the Xbox console was first spotted in a trademark listing in 2020. The rebranding has sparked concerns about potential trademark conflicts with Microsoft’s Xbox brand.
On the other hand, Meta trademarked a blue and white “X” logo in 2019, which the company notes is for social networking. As a result, legal experts predict Twitter will likely face lawsuits over the rebranding. Trademark attorney Josh Gerben pointed out that “nearly 900 active US trademark registrations already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries.”
The rebranding remains a work in progress across Twitter’s platform and apps. Musk has provided few details on the extent and timeline of the transition to “X,” but more changes are likely ahead as he puts his stamp on the company.
Source: The Telegraph
