X Marks The Spot: What’s to Come After Twitter’s Rebrand?

From a media standpoint, there are a lot of implications.

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has shaped how people learn information and communicate with one another. When news broke, Twitter was often the first platform people would go to for a quick pulse on major headlines. Or when Instagram got glitchy, the hashtag #InstagramDown would immediately trend on Twitter.

As the changes to the platform keep coming, it is no longer a platform for immediate information.

With major news publications leaving the app, and competitors entering the marketplace, the way users engage with Twitter is beginning to shift. However, it’s going to be difficult to fully rebrand.

After all, Twitter isn’t just a platform — it’s also a verb and a noun. For example:

• Pieces of content shared on the platform aren’t posts, they’re tweets.
• Users aren’t posting when they use the platform, they’re tweeting.
• They retweet when they want to amplify a message.

The intention to call these things x’s has yet to catch on among users.

What happens to Twitter’s most notable communities during the transition to X?

Few things have been as broadly influential as Black Twitter. From #BlackLivesMatter to #OscarsSoWhite, Black Twitter users have been at the forefront of notable movements related to social justice and popular culture.

What’s now unclear is where Black Twitter goes when Twitter is no longer Twitter and what happens to the culture it has heavily influenced.

While we don’t yet know what exact features are included in X’s “everything app” future state, it sounds like the platform will be shifting into everything but what users originally signed up for.