When you go onto the Apple App Store, no longer will you see the Twitter app with its iconic blue background and white bird outline. Instead, you’ll be greeted by “X,” the app that Elon Musk owns under his company, X Corp. This company was revealed to have replaced Twitter, Inc. in April. The X app was introduced to the world on July 24, according to the app’s blog.
There is currently some conflicting messaging, as you can use both twitter.com and x.com to get to the website.
July 2023 has seen the most Twitter changes of any month that Musk has been in charge since November 2022. The most visible change has been the X rebrand, but there are many others.
On the X blog, CEO Linda Yaccarino shared the timeline of progress since Musk’s takeover. Most recently, the ad revenue option was added for eligible global creators on July 28. These creators must have at least 500 followers, at least 15 million impressions within the last three months, and be subscribed to Blue or Verified Organizations, according to the X Help Center page.
One of Musk’s goals is to make X more profitable than Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the billionaire is quite pro-business. For example, X has implemented creator subscriptions, much like Twitch.
“Subscriptions are a way for people’s most engaged followers to help them earn money from Twitter for their contributions on the platform. When someone has a Subscription offering, their followers can sign up to access bonus Tweets created especially for them,” the X website reads. Elon Musk himself offers subscriptions to his X page for $4 per month.
One of the most controversial changes made to Twitter was the introduction of Twitter Blue, which allowed anyone to have the blue checkmark, for the price of $8 per month. In March, the company released Verified Organizations, which introduced gold and gray checkmarks. Gold checkmarks are for official business accounts, such as Apple. Gray checkmarks are for government officials or organizations, such as President Biden and The White House.
Previously the tagline for Twitter was “Let’s talk.” The tagline for X is “Blaze your glory!”, which is perhaps Musk’s way to poke fun at his critics, who believe in his downfall and that of his app. The evidence supports this in a sarcastic tweet he made in November of 2022, just a month after he took Twitter over, that said, “Wasn’t Twitter supposed to die by now or something…?”
Last Sunday, the comments for X in the App Store started to flood in. “Decimated absolutely everything we loved about this app. Hate it. Hate speech runs rampant,” says one X review. Another said, “A once ubiquitous and useful, if flawed tool is now just a dumpster fire of stupid decisions and rampant hatred. Bye, Twitter.”
Reviewers got creative in their character attacks on Musk, writing that he was a “parasite,” “manchild,” “moron,” “rich loser,” “uncreative,” “egotistical” and “maniacal.”
On the other side, proponents of Musk referred to him as a “patriot” in the App Store, commending him for making the app a place for “free speech.” “I support Musk in his [p]atriotic fight to preserve the U.S.A [a]nd our Constitution,” wrote one reviewer. “Let Freedom of Speech prevail!!! #TrumpIsTheGreatestPresidentEver,” wrote another.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk tweeted in April of 2022.
He also tweeted in 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” which managed to be indicative of many different views of right-leaning American politics in just five words, although his politics are unclear.
But it’s no wonder there are so many Trump supporters singing his praises in the App Store, since criticism of pronouns and Fauci are popular Trumpian views. Conservatives are generally complimentary of Elon Musk and his changes to Twitter, while liberals are not.
