Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has mocked owner Elon Musk’s rebranding and change in the logo of the social media platform, in what could be an escalation of fights in social media circles.
Dorsey, a longtime executive of Twitter described the rebranding as not “essential.” This is not the first time he has taken on competition as he also recently criticized Meta’s Threads, accusing it of lacking originality and calling it one of the several “clones” imitating Twitter.
A goodbye to the traditional identity
Since buying the microblogging platform for $44 billion, Elon Musk has made sweeping changes to it in his quest to make it an app for everything.
Over the weekend, the tech billionaire announced the changes to Twitter – a new brand logo – X, replacing the famous blue bird. He also changed his title to “Chief Nothing Officer” from “Chief Twit.”
But Dorsey, who previously has been at the helm of the online platform believes the changes to the platform were nothing to be excited about. Instead, he told users to stay calm.
Writing on his former platform, he said: “Keep calm and just X it in.”
The new branding comes with a significant impact as it has taken the brand away from its traditional identity.
On Sunday, Musk tweeted: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
One of the designers of the blue bird logo, Martin Grasser also mourned the “death” of the original logo identity created in 2012.
“Today we say goodbye to this great blue bird,” tweeted Grasser.
“This logo was designed in 2012 by a team of three. The logo was designed to be simple, balanced and legible.”
keep calm and just x through it
— jack (@jack) July 24, 2023
New opportunities?
The shift had Twitter users talking. These had been accustomed to their usual brand with a blue bird with others highlighting this could be a good move for the online platform in the quest to be an all-encompassing platform.
At this point, Dorsey also weighed in indicating the success of the platform was however not in the name or brand identity but the service it provided while also acknowledging the platform was laden with “baggage.”
“It’s definitely not “essential.” But you can make an argument for reconsideration being the best path forward. The Twitter brand carries a lot of baggage. But all that matters is the utility it provides, not the name,” tweeted Dorsey.
New CEO Linda Yaccarino said on the platform that X is the future and this presented “exciting new opportunities.”
“Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square,” she said.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
Brand appeal
The latest changes to the platform come as the tech billionaire is pushing ahead with his plans to make Twitter a super app. Now, the changes should have been made “a long time ago” according to Musk who also changed the name of the business to X Corp.
According to BBC News, the changes to the brand might not appeal to loyalists who had become used to the usual identity while the younger generation might like a fresh new look that’s more appealing.
“The younger generations have moved onto other apps and Twitter does look a bit old-fashioned,” business commentator Justin Urquhart Stewart told BBC.
“Elon Musk has got to be careful as you are almost starting from scratch with an older audience meanwhile damaging the original brand,” he said.
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Another school of thought is that rapid rebranding may raise security concerns in the face of increasing cyberattacks.
Jake Moore, global cyber adviser at security firm ESET feels cybercriminals may find a fertile ground for stealing users’ personal data.
“A rebrand is a perfect opportunity to send phishing emails requesting users to sign in via a new URL from a link within that email – but of course that link wouldn’t be genuine that’s where people could be tricked into handing over their genuine Twitter credentials without their usual level of caution,” he told the BBC.
“Cybercriminals can easily prey on this, especially those searching for that new URL.”
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