NPR: Twitter replaces its bird logo with an X
Social media expert Jeffrey Blevins says the change may be to create a fresh start
CEO Elon Musk has announced the rebranding of Twitter to “X” as part of his vision to create an “everything app” like China’s WeChat app.
The new logo replaces Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo.
The rebranding comes at a time when Musk has been challenged by the Twitter base who’ve expressed dissatisfaction with the changes Musk has made to Twitter such as with a fee-based system for verified accounts.
"I think this (rebranding) is a way, maybe, to try to save it essentially by destroying it and recreating it as something else,” Jeffrey Blevins, a journalism professor at the University of Cincinnati, told NPR.
Blevins agrees with other experts that Musk has dismayed a significant portion of Twitter users — so much so that a rebranding can't hurt.
The article states that in one of his earliest ventures, Musk called his online bank X.com. That name was later dropped when the platform merged with a competitor to become PayPal.
Blevins, who also holds an appointment in UC’s School of Public and International Affairs, is a leading scholar in U.S. telecommunication law and policy, and critical political economy theory and is the co-author of “Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks.” He is a trusted media resource, and he has provided expertise on electronic media regulation and Federal Communications Commission policymaking to international, national, regional and local news media.
Featured image of Jeffrey Blevins/ UC Marketing + Brand/Andrew Higley
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