Advertisement
It’s been a while since Elon Musk stirred up enough chaos to warrant media attention, but it was only a matter of time before he reclaimed the spotlight.
This time, it wasn’t the birth of another child — though Musk’s track record in that department rivals Nick Cannon’s — or a scandal that brought him back into public discourse. Instead, it was a seemingly innocuous question posed to the masses on Musk’s own social media platform, one that received a response far from what the outspoken billionaire anticipated.
Since Musk’s jaw-dropping $44 billion acquisition of Twitter about a year ago, he’s been on a mission to overhaul the platform. While there haven’t been any significant changes to its appearance, Musk’s attempts at revamping the site have faced considerable resistance.
One of his most contentious moves was the introduction of a fee for verified users, a change met with widespread disdain among frequent Twitter users. While it prompted some to abandon the platform, Twitter’s popularity endured, unlike Musk’s other ambitious endeavor — rebranding the site from Twitter to simply X. This unilateral decision did not sit well with the platform’s user base.
In response, users simply ignored Musk’s rebranding attempt. They continued to refer to the platform as Twitter, ignoring Musk’s attempt to rename it. Despite Musk’s efforts to promote the new name, X failed to gain traction among users, who remained steadfast in their allegiance to the original moniker.
It seems Musk has finally grasped the widespread rejection of the name change. In a bid to drum up support for the rebranded identity, Musk took to Twitter (or rather, X) to solicit opinions on whether “X” was a superior name to “Twitter.”
The response was brutally honest. Users flooded the comment section with unequivocal disapproval of the new name, with comments ranging from blunt critiques to outright rejection of Musk’s attempt to rebrand. Even notable figures like Stephen King and Mark Hamill joined in the chorus of dissent, offering succinct rebuttals that left no room for ambiguity.
Despite Musk’s legion of supporters on the platform, their voices failed to sway public opinion in favor of the rebranding effort. The overwhelming sentiment in response to Musk’s tweet was one of resounding disapproval, underscoring the enduring attachment of users to the original name.