Last October, Elon Musk completed the acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter, for a mind-boggling 44 billion dollars. Ever since Musk took over X, the platform has undergone many changes, with each change sending X further down a downward spiral that X might never recover from.
Musk originally bought X in 2022 to make it a “free speech platform.” X’s transformation started with Musk firing most X executives in November 2022. The same executives that innovated the X and made it the well-known social media platform that many people use and love today. Even though Musk did tweet that he would fire executives in advance if he ever bought X, many didn’t think he would carry that promise. It marked the beginning of the end of X.
What Musk did next started to make people question if Musk’s purchase of X was a good thing for the platform. In November 2022, Musk began to reinstate people previously banned for policy violations, such as former President Donald Trump and controversial internet personality Andrew Tate. Trump was originally banned in 2020 for spreading voter fraud conspiracy theories and inciting the January 6 insurrection with the intent to overturn the 2020 election. Tate was banned in 2022 for violating X policies by spreading misogynistic and unrealistic ideas.
Musks’ next move came with the addition of Twitter Blue, which made the downfall of X set in stone and ensued chaos across the platform. Twitter Blue is a subscription-based service to verify your account for $8 on the website, and $11 on the app. The moment Twitter Blue was added, accounts impersonating government bodies and celebrities stormed the platform. These imposter accounts spread misinformation, which many people believed at first, because the moment people see that blue checkmark next to a username, they assume it has to be real, they’re verified after all. The impersonator accounts made it extremely difficult to differentiate the real people and information from the false ones.
But it doesn’t end there. In April 2023, Musk changed the iconic name, “Twitter,” and mascot of little blue Larry the Bird, to “X” for both name and logo, which is just a blatantly pointless change. Changing an icon of the internet to something most people don’t understand raises further questions about what Musk is planning to do with X.
The only reason Musk would’ve done this was greed. Even though Musk is the richest person in the world, he still wants more money. But the story doesn’t end there. In April 2023, Musk changed the iconic name, “Twitter,” and mascot, Larry the Bird, to “X” for both name and logo, which is just a blatantly pointless change. Changing an icon of the internet and the world to something most people don’t understand raises questions about what Musk is planning to do with X.
Overall, these changes that Musk made were devastating to X. Albeit, X was far from a good social media platform before Musk took over. Cancel culture, misinformation, and some of the people on X made it to be known as one of the most, if not the most, toxic platforms on the internet. However, no one can deny how iconic X was. It was a place where people could gather and utilize the power of their voice, the most powerful tool one could use. But now, with every change Musk makes, X gets farther and farther from what it used to be.
