Will Twitter’s transformation into X prevent the company from going bankrupt? To understand

After 17 years of existence, Twitter as we know it has ended and left its place to X. The change in the internet’s most popular microblogging happened yesterday (23) and The promise is that the transformation will not be just aesthetic and nominal.

And the ending of the friendly blue bird Larry with the arrival of the twenty-fourth letter of the Roman alphabet caused distrust in many people. The decisions of billionaire Elon Musk, who bought the company at the end of last year, have been bothering some users for a long time.

But what is the impact of a change of this magnitude for an already consolidated social network? Beatriz Guarezi, brand expert and creator of Bits to Brands, talks more about the “rebranding” of Twitter. Technology World in the lines below.

Twitter logo evolution 2006–2023#WebDesignHistory pic.twitter.com/oH28pL6Fqi

— Web Design Museum (@WebDesignMuseum) 24 July 2023

“Rebranding is the realization of a visual change that is a reflection of changes already occurring or a strategic change as a starting point,” he says.

On the possible harms of such a massive transformation, He says the company risks “putting away” the years it takes to build the value of a brand that’s already in people’s imaginations.

With the end of Twitter, terms like tweet and retweet will disappear (or tweet and retweet in the Portuguese version), Guarezi reminds. For now, Musk has left the pronunciation a mystery by announcing that the posts will be called “xs”.

x’s

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 24 July 2023

“When a company proposes such a change, managers need to have a lot of confidence in the new thing they are creating. Their job is to present everything in a very attractive way so that people get used to this new moment,” he argues.

The End of Twitter

The brand expert remembers that one of the important aspects of Twitter’s history was to practically create a kind of profile on the Internet: the Twitter user. This is the person who is at the top of all important conversations and can adapt almost instantly to what is going on in the world.

Besides marking the end of this archetype and killing a vocabulary, the launch of X raises doubts about the future of the network. Guarezi is skeptical about whether people will stay in X.

“Twitter is the place on the internet that only those who are there understand. The topic comes up, it explodes there, and it no longer comes up the same way when it goes to any other social network. and i believe it [no X] it will be an oddity. Them [executivos do X] “They want to create a platform based on a different dynamic with an audience that is there because they want to interact in a certain way,” he says.

Replacing Twitter with X not only results in a super popular brand (and the only remaining asset from it),

but it kills a whole vocabulary full of meaning
(chirp, chirp, chirp…)

in exchange for an abstract promise of the future with “AI” in the middle and a giant ego behind it

— Beatriz | bitstobrands.com (@beatrizguarezi) 24 July 2023

Guarezi claims he understands the change is causing discomfort, because the visual identity has changed, but everything works practically the same. “I don’t know if people will stay. But I’ve seen everything, including people saying they’re going to act like nothing has changed and they’re going to keep tweeting,” he jokes.

User response

As the brand expert commented, reactions to the arrival of the X were diverse. Many users complained and promised to leave the network forever, while others acted as if nothing had happened.

What has happened to the platform has not changed since its launch in 2006: Jokes have dominated. The public of the deceased Twitter and even official company accounts took the opportunity to make fun of the situation and spread dozens of memes. Check out some of them below:

pic.twitter.com/Syb1EHLFec https://t.co/m4bigaeMoj

— Lionel Hutz (@vncs1989) 24 July 2023

The Letter X will hold a press conference later today. #TwitterX pic.twitter.com/qXKNYLTqLe

— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) 24 July 2023

This X from Elon Musk comes to prove the theory that every rich person is tacky, what a horrible thing kkkkkkkkkkkk man is a fan of federal savings bank #TwitterX pic.twitter.com/rZXbtiOarZ

– what the hell?? (@danieela_alves) 24 July 2023

I’m afraid someone will look at this tab and think I’m accessing Xvideos pic.twitter.com/vuexArW3l9

“Ricard ?? (@RicardNikson) 24 July 2023

Ibama will accuse Elon Musk of killing birds pic.twitter.com/fDNY8IjT7J

– Sensational (@sensacionalista) 24 July 2023

elon musk will kill twitter bird ;-( pic.twitter.com/OBvLmuF3aL

— Erick Krominski (@EKrominski) 24 July 2023

Mark Zuckerberg has the opportunity to do the funniest thing#TwitterX pic.twitter.com/7hpea7cDdP

— Stefanie (@fastpitstop) 24 July 2023

TWITTER NO OOOOOOOOOOOO????????? pic.twitter.com/70jKhJh88H

– Shitpost for real only (@shitpostverdade) 24 July 2023

x pic.twitter.com/37PUPiE17C

— Xbox (@Xbox) 24 July 2023

Will X prevent the company from going bankrupt?

Elon Musk sometimes commented Twitter has been experiencing a strong financial crisis in recent years. In a conversation with Spaces last December, he even said that Twitter is “like an airplane landing directly on the ground with its engines burning.”

“Twitter only has $1 billion in cash. I’ve spent the last five weeks cutting costs at the company because times are tough.”

If the situation was already difficult before the purchase, things got even more complicated. Musk confirmed in a post about ten days ago that the company’s cash flow was negative and lost about 50% of its advertising revenue.

Beatriz Guarezi claims that the advertiser’s move of distrust is due to factors such as changes in the algorithm (which affects the delivery of posts to people) and the purge of content moderation teams.

super app X

Even before Elon Musk bought Twitter, he was talking about his plans to create a super app. Over time, X will evolve into a platform that includes audio, video, messaging, payments and more.

X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, announced yesterday (23) that the new network will be “the future of unlimited interaction.” The idea is to create a “global marketplace for ideas, products, services and opportunities” that will be “driven by artificial intelligence”.

Beatriz Guarezi comments: the launch of a platform that combines several solutions in one place only indicates a change in profitability. “It sounds to me like a strategy that focuses more on users than advertisers,” he argues.

Technology, Innovation and Trends expert Arthur Igreja explains in an interview Technology World that a super app makes good business sense. He recalls that Asia has such a tool, referring to the Chinese WeChat, which has more than 1 billion users and works as a social network, messenger, transport application, bank and much more.

the church says While the idea makes sense, the task of making X profitable will be arduous. “Because we’re talking about conquering the myriad of regions that have now been established, so it’s a big challenge. And this financial problem on Twitter is getting worse because there is less investment capacity as so many people post. All this is an aggravating factor,” he concludes.

Both Igreja and Guarezi agree that it’s too early to say whether X can save the old Twitter from possible bankruptcy. Only this Both agree that the new platform needs to stay attractive if it doesn’t want to see a stampede on rivals like Threads..