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In terms of branding, I think X is an excellent choice.

It is pointless to be fixated on what a tweet will be called because all of that can be changed to anything now.   X is a placeholder. X can be anything, and that is the point.

X marks the spot. It’s where people go.

X is mysterious. It makes you want to gossip about the possibilities or what it may be.

Those are all important aspects of marketing - viral word of mouth. Why did he choose X? I don’t know. But could be a combination of some or all of those factors. Maybe there’s an interview where he talks about it? 🤷‍♂️

Sounds like I’m trying to apply for a job at X 😂😂😂

Just evaluating the branding decision. After all, we are allowed to think and speak freely here.

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Discussion

Evan 2y ago

He chose X because he’s owned x.com since the 90s and has apparently been dying to do something with it.

HoloKat 2y ago

Oh interesting 🧐

Evan 2y ago

History time!

X.com was the very first online bank, founded by Elon. It’s the last time he had a truly innovative idea. I had an account. He sold it to another early competitor, PayPal, that was approaching online banking from a different angle. He got a fuckload of stock, but got pushed out of any active role in PayPal almost immediately. When eBay bought PayPal a few years later, it added another comma to his already sizable wealth.

HoloKat 2y ago

Yes it’s all coming back now. I recall seeing some documentary about his early days.

Satchmo 2y ago

You sound like Elon. Not entirely a bad thing lol

HoloKat 2y ago

Not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment 😂

Satchmo 2y ago

Honestly… I’m not sure either 😂 I couldn’t decide in my mind while I was typing. He has an uncanny ability to building things that people want so I guess I dunno

HoloKat 2y ago

It also allows for easy naming of products: xchat, xbank, xwallet, xshop … kind of like the i in the iPhone

Evan 2y ago

… xvideos …

HoloKat 2y ago

I would. 😂 free marketing

Séimí Mac Síomón 2y ago

Yeah that's a fair point actually, the Iphone sounded kind of stupid when it came out if I'm remembering events correctly.

shiny 2y ago

ºfᵗ₃ʳ Vᵃˡᵏₐᵈ 2y ago

...and then what will they call the tweets? 🤔 xit? For example: "I'm going to xited". ???

pam 2y ago

hmm, i'm not a fan of this branding tbh. Feels very "Gattaca" - ish ie controlled environment. And visually unappealing. That aside, what are your thoughts on timing? Those who remain are because of familiarity and loyalty, and other existing users. I think changing branding right now is so detrimental

HoloKat 2y ago

I have to remind myself that brands always change and their first iteration usually never stick around. Look at the original Twitter, for example. There’s a good chance it will change again quickly.

In terms of timing, as I said in an earlier note, I speculate it could be a desperate move to stop people from leaving. Pay creators + rebrand.

Rebranding is good for harnessing attention and just so happens to be great at diverting attention from Threads.

I do not think it is detrimental, but probably the exact thing that needed to happen.

a source familiar with the matter 2y ago

I struggle to imagine regime media referring to people "on X" or Xeeting each other

But who knows, they're dupes

BzzT! 2y ago

X gon' give it to ya!

HoloKat 2y ago

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlmpkzfwDHU

Séimí Mac Síomón 2y ago

I would suggest that you do get a job with them, so that you could sabotage them, but it looks like they got that covered .

Tha Brainer 2y ago

It feels more like X, a cross on it, forget it, pass it over ...

To me it feels like a controlled demolition, I doubt people will ever use X like Chinese do use WeChat ... it is simply no the same mindset, nor the people nor the investors and neither the way products are brought to market.

Personally I think it will fail

Rasha 2y ago

X feels like a porn site

HoloKat 2y ago

😆

graycat 2y ago

Right now searching for the single letter “x” on Google shows, among other things, some news about Musk’s X. In the future I would expect it to be difficult to find information about the company without a more sophisticated query.

VictorieeMan 2y ago

people will probably still call them tweets, just like people say retweet on platforms that isn't even twittering :)

CATLANTIS 2y ago

I like the X idea. It looks more polished than the stupid bird. Like going from a Prius to a Tesla. 😎

Dan Holm 2y ago

X might be a fine (if not a little cheesy or adolescent) branding decision if you're starting from scratch, but we're talking about a company that literally owns the verb. Companies would kill to be in the position to have their company name be established as the primary verb in their industry -- even other social networks like Bluesky use some variation of "tweet" to indicate a post -- and throwing that away in favor of a generic letter would be akin to Kleenex giving up their brand name to be known as K.