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Elon Musk - the world's "greatest" spiv?

nw1

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I've just taken a look at Twitter, or X, or X-Twitter, or Twitter-X, and it looks like a bit of a mess. Rather reminiscent of Connex and its random liveries.

The X logo is there but also there is "sign in to Twitter", and "Be the first to know with Twitter", still with the blue colour.

Is the intention to keep the Twitter brand? I thought not. If not, it looks a complete hodge-podge.
 
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nlogax

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Is the intention to keep the Twitter brand? I thought not. If not, it looks a complete hodge-podge.
The intention is to completely bin the Twitter brand and turn X into an 'everything' platform. No surprise that it's a complete mess during this transitional stage of rebranding. Additionally it will be no surprise that it'll still be a complete mess once the rebranding is done.
 

birchesgreen

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I think its a mess because it seems to have been done in a hurry, even down to a crowd sourced apparently temporary logo, why the hell would you do that? Why the hell does he do anything?
 

jon0844

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Companies can take months to plan a change of branding, given how much needs to be done. It is of course easier for an online service than, say, a TOC with loads of signs and liveries all over the country - but there will still be an awful lot to do, as well as going back and changing previous branding on documents and old FAQs etc. A big job, that requires planning and proper staffing, as well as being able to get everything prepped for a 'go live' date.

Elon doesn't want to mess around with that nonsense, and certainly wouldn't wait for a go live date as he thinks of something (or one of his fans challenges him to do something) and he then does it there and then.
 

bspahh

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I think its a mess because it seems to have been done in a hurry, even down to a crowd sourced apparently temporary logo, why the hell would you do that? Why the hell does he do anything?
The blue twitter icon has returned for me
 

jon0844

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Now Elon is telling big businesses that if they don't spend a minimum amount on advertising with Twitter X they'll risk losing their verified status.

I wonder how that's going to go down?
 

takno

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Now Elon is telling big businesses that if they don't spend a minimum amount on advertising with Twitter X they'll risk losing their verified status.

I wonder how that's going to go down?
I feel that if the amount they spend is more than zero then there is always an opportunity to spend even less, and most of them are probably itching to grasp that opportunity with both hands.
 

SuspectUsual

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If he’s hellbent on rebranding it all, what do we call the messages if not a tweet? An x?
 

takno

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If he’s hellbent on rebranding it all, what do we call the messages if not a tweet? An x?
It's all really very simple, as explained in this tweet https://twitter.com/Michael1979/status/1683555757571076096?t=xIwV_icv2RdCMh1OUpO95A&s=19 :
1 A tweet will now be known as an X
2 A retweet will now be know as a T
3 Each time you post an X which receives 5 or more Ts, you X-account will be credited with 114 Js
4 Js can be redeemed in the X-store
5 The X store is not open yet and never will be
 

jon0844

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Elon has also tweaked the logo again, albeit only slightly. No doubt in a few weeks he'll change something else, and then something else.

When I ran a forum, I once tweaked a few design layouts live and annoyed some members. It was a schoolboy error, and not something you'd expect the richest man in the world to be doing.
 

jon0844

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I’m not sure why everyone gets their knickers in a twist about Twitter.
What's Twitter?

That was so last week.

Seriously though, a lot of people are upset because they actually used Twitter for a range of reasons - many to make money by promoting themselves or providing customer service etc.

Seeing the platform burn and realising there's not yet any viable alternative (although Threads is really taking off and while I've not used it much since day one, plenty of people are. The fact it works so well with your Instagram following means you aren't starting from 0 followers) is highly frustrating.

And Elon wants to make the experience for non Blue users, and now companies, worse and worse until they pay more.
 

birchesgreen

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There are quite a few reasons why people talk about it.

Twitter had (i won't say has anymore) a role in world news and affairs that is pretty outsized for it's actual userbase.

There is the whole "free speach / well as long as its MY free speech" kinda debate which twitter seems to have become the heart of.

Elon spending a huge sum and his downward spiral into crazed right wing conspiracies (the child porn poster he reinstated was a big QAnon conspiracy nut apparently) which are poisoning the way the US (and elsewhere including here) are run and governed.

Elon is also an important figure in electric transporation and space, so if he falls then that has implications elsewhere.
 

brad465

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Either Musk hasn't thought this all through, and/or he's arrogant enough that he'll find a way around or get revenge later:


Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, is facing a bill from San Francisco authorities after placing an unauthorised flashing X sign on the roof of its headquarters.
The sign was put up on Friday as part of the company's rebrand, but it attracted 24 complaints at the weekend.
It was taken down on Monday and X will be charged the cost of building permits for its installation and removal.
San Francisco authorities said the firm did not have permission for the sign.
In a statement, officials said the company would also have to cover the cost of the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department's investigation.
X Corp has been approached for comment.
It is not the first obstacle Mr Musk's company has run into as it changes its downtown headquarters.
An attempt to remove the firm's old name had to be temporarily abandoned, meaning for a brief period only the letters ER remained on the building.
Wider questions have also been asked about the wisdom of abandoning one of the best known names in tech - and killing off the blue bird logo with which it was synonymous.
Mr Musk and the firm's new chief executive Linda Yaccarino want to transform X into a so-called "everything app", where they hope users will want to spend more of their money and online lives.
So far the only changes have been cosmetic - with the X symbol replacing the blue bird on both desktop and mobile versions of the platform.
 

jon0844

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I expect Elon will simply try and not pay, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump.

Let's see how it works out for him, although sadly his cult-like fans will defend him and attack the state.
 

Kite159

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Or he will threaten to throw the teddy out and relocate the HQ from San Francisco to another area where he can do what he wants
 

Strathclyder

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I expect Elon will simply try and not pay, following in the footsteps of Donald Trump.

Let's see how it works out for him, although sadly his cult-like fans will defend him and attack the state.
I really do the city of San Francisco financially and legally back-hands him if he tries to pull a Trump and stiff them.
 

jon0844

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Or he will threaten to throw the teddy out and relocate the HQ from San Francisco to another area where he can do what he wants

Yes, that's also quite likely. Texas or Florida sound like perfect places.
 

VauxhallandI

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Wow such outrage over a sign, I fear the cult like fans talked of are just the opposite of those cult like behaviours against everything and anything to do with him.
 

jon0844

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Did you see the sign? It went through various strobe lighting effects in the most gratuitous way imaginable. I swear Elon is just trolling at this point.
 

Energy

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Did you see the sign? It went through various strobe lighting effects in the most gratuitous way imaginable. I swear Elon is just trolling at this point.
Indeed, the main criticism of the sign was the flashing and the insane brightness of it.
this-poor-guys-apartment-after-elon-had-the-twitter-logo-v0-uiMz8F8F1TOO333dRofCkn8f4LivgZNBvkiAUhb8d-w.jpg


The sign was made up of LED blinders, lighting fixtures usually used at festivals.
 

Strathclyder

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Did you see the sign? It went through various strobe lighting effects in the most gratuitous way imaginable. I swear Elon is just trolling at this point.
Wasn't that why he bought Twitter in the first place?

Indeed, the main criticism of the sign was the flashing and the insane brightness of it.
this-poor-guys-apartment-after-elon-had-the-twitter-logo-v0-uiMz8F8F1TOO333dRofCkn8f4LivgZNBvkiAUhb8d-w.jpg


The sign was made up of LED blinders, lighting fixtures usually used at festivals.
Had that thing been anywhere near LAX Airport or any of it's flight corridors, the FAA would've been well within their rights to come down on him like a sack of cinder blocks for that, citing numerous safety risks for night flights. Regardless of that, I would ask 'what the hell was he thinking?', but he's proven himself time and again to have a tenuous grip with reality at best.

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Yes, that's also quite likely. Texas or Florida sound like perfect places.
Alabama would be a good fit too.
 

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