Elon Musk bought Twitter and changed everything. Now it’s x.com. But honestly, most people still just call it Twitter. It’s been a weird transition.
Social media platforms rarely try to throw away decades of brand equity overnight. Usually, companies guard their logos like sacred relics. Not here. The blue bird is gone, replaced by a black-and-white mathematical symbol that looks more like a 1990s desktop icon than a modern social network. It's jarring. You've probably felt that split second of confusion when looking for the app on your home screen.
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The Reality of the x.com Rebrand
The transition to x.com wasn't just about a name. It was about an "everything app." Musk has been obsessed with this "X" idea since his early PayPal days. Back in 1999, he actually co-founded a bank called X.com. He eventually bought the domain back from PayPal in 2017 because it had "sentimental value."
The goal? Payments, video, job hunting, and AI integration all in one place.
It's an ambitious pivot. Whether it’s working is another story. Advertisers have been jittery, and the user experience has shifted significantly toward a subscription-based model. If you want a blue checkmark now, you pay for it. It’s no longer a badge of "notability," but a receipt for a $8 monthly transaction. This changed the information hierarchy of the site completely.
The Technical Side of the Move
Moving a site with billions of posts to a new domain is a nightmare. For a long time, x.com would just redirect you back to twitter.com. If you look at your browser bar today, you’ll finally see the "x.com" URL sticking around.
This isn't just a vanity project. It’s about data.
Under the hood, x.com is being used to train Grok, the AI developed by xAI. Every time you post a hot take or a meme, you are essentially providing free training data for a Large Language Model. Some users hate this. Others don't care. But from a business perspective, the data is the most valuable asset the company owns.
Why the Name X Still Feels Weird
Language is a stubborn thing. We say "Google it," not "search it on Alphabet." We still say "tweeting," even though the official term is now "posting." The word "tweet" was perfect—it was a verb and a noun. It was short. "Posting an X" sounds like a math equation or something much more adult-rated than it actually is.
Cultural inertia is real.
Musk’s vision for x.com is modeled after WeChat in China. In China, you use one app to pay for groceries, call a taxi, and message your mom. Western markets are different. We like specialized apps. We use Instagram for photos, LinkedIn for work, and WhatsApp for chatting. Convincing Americans and Europeans to put their banking info into a social media app is a massive hurdle.
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Content Moderation and the "Town Square"
The "Free Speech" angle is the biggest talking point surrounding x.com.
Before the takeover, Twitter had a massive trust and safety team. Now? It's lean. Musk basically fired everyone and moved toward "Community Notes" to handle fact-checking. It’s a crowdsourced model. Sometimes it works brilliantly, debunking viral misinformation in minutes. Other times, it’s slow.
The site feels more chaotic now. You’ve likely noticed more "blue checks" at the top of every reply thread, regardless of whether their comment is actually good. Because the algorithm prioritizes paid users, the "Town Square" feels a bit more like a "Pay-to-Play Square."
What’s Actually New on x.com?
If you haven't logged in for a while, it looks different. There are long-form articles now. You can post videos that are hours long. There are "Communities" that function a bit like subreddits.
- Grok Integration: If you pay for Premium, you get a side-bar AI that can summarize the news for you in real-time. It’s snarky.
- Video Focus: The platform is pushing vertical video hard to compete with TikTok.
- Revenue Sharing: Creators actually get paid now. If you get enough impressions, X sends you a slice of the ad revenue. This has led to a massive surge in "engagement farming," where people post controversial things just to get replies and make money.
It’s a hustle. It’s messy. It’s x.com.
The Future of the Platform
Is x.com dying? No. The data shows people still flock there during breaking news events. When a big game is on or a political scandal breaks, X is still the place people go to scream into the void.
But it is changing. It’s becoming a niche platform for "power users" and political junkies rather than a broad-appeal social network for everyone. The valuation has dropped significantly since the $44 billion purchase, but Musk doesn't seem to care about the traditional metrics of success. He's playing a long game.
Staying Safe and Navigating the New X
If you're still using the platform, you need to adjust your settings. The default experience can be overwhelming.
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First, check your privacy settings. X opted everyone into data sharing for AI training by default. You have to go into the "Data sharing and personalization" menu to turn that off if you don't want your posts feeding Grok.
Second, use the "Following" tab, not the "For You" tab. The "For You" algorithm is designed to keep you angry or shocked so you stay on the app longer. The "Following" tab actually shows you the people you chose to follow in chronological order. It’s much better for your mental health.
Lastly, don't trust the blue checkmark. It doesn't mean the person is an expert or a celebrity. It just means they have a credit card. Verify information through multiple sources before you hit that retweet—sorry, "repost"—button.
Actionable Steps for Users
- Audit your data: Go to Settings > Privacy and safety > Data sharing and personalization. Disable the AI training toggle if you value your privacy.
- Clean your feed: If your "For You" page is toxic, start aggressively muting keywords. You can mute words like "crypto," "politics," or specific names to curate a better experience.
- Switch tabs: Make it a habit to click the "Following" tab every time you open the app. It prevents the algorithm from dictating your mood.
- Verify before sharing: Use sites like Ground News or Reuters to double-check breaking headlines you see on X. The speed of the platform often comes at the cost of accuracy.
- Explore Communities: If you want the "old Twitter" feel, find a specific Community for your hobby. It’s usually much more civil than the main timeline.