Elon Musk’s Move to X.com Is Complete – When Can We Expect His Everything App?
Elon Musk completed Twitter rebranding to X.com but the road to his "everything app" is still some way away. l Source: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Twitter rebranding into X.com was officially completed on Friday, May 17.
- Elon Musk’s transformative plan for X is not over yet.
- What Musk’s “everything app” will look like is still unclear
Elon Musk has finally completed the transition from Twitter to X.com , as planned since he took over the social media platform. This culmination of a months-long rebranding effort follows Musk’s acquisition of the platform in late 2022 and his subsequent vision to transform it into a multifaceted “super app.”
Tesla and SpaceX’s owner aims to transform Twitter into an “everything app”, featuring TV broadcasting and payment systems. But the transition to the super app faces a number of challenges.
Musk’s Move To X.com Completed
The billionaire CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and announced its rebranding to ‘X’ in July 2023. Despite the change in logo and branding, the domain name remained Twitter.com until Friday, May 17, 2024.
“All core systems are now on X.com,” Musk posted on X, alongside an image of a white ‘X’ on a blue circle. On Friday morning, queries to Twitter.com redirected users to X.com, although the original domain name still appeared in some browsers.
This transition has faced challenges during its roadmap. Initially, users navigating to Twitter were not consistently redirected to X.com, landing instead on the original site. This staggered redirection indicates a phased approach to the domain switch, with a full transition expected soon.
The move to X.com marks a significant milestone in Musk’s vision for the platform. Although the domain shift began in August last year, the change between the new and old domains underscored the complexities of such a major digital transformation.
With Musk’s latest announcement, the platform is anticipated to cease soon being accessible under its former Twitter domain and fully embrace its new identity as ‘X.’
The Road To X
The company’s leadership claimed the rebrand is part of an ambitious transition to a “super app.” This would integrate many services, from banking to entertainment to food delivery. However, this transformation has yet to materialize fully.
Nonetheless, the platform has undergone significant changes under Musk’s leadership. The company has intensified its focus on subscriptions. And it has also introduced a sign-up fee for new users overseas, launched an AI chatbot, and pushed users towards recommended content.
The platform’s vocal user base has not universally welcomed these updates. According to Sensor Tower data , the platform’s daily active app users globally dropped by 15% to 174 million as of February, the latest available numbers. X disputes these figures, asserting that user numbers continue to grow.
Additionally, major advertisers like Apple, Disney, and Coca-Cola have paused or significantly reduced their ad spending on X, citing concerns over content moderation following Musk’s takeover in October 2022. This advertiser exodus has raised fears about the company’s financial stability.
Musk has undeniably shifted X’s paradigm, transforming it from a traditional social media app into a multifunctional platform. Users can now make video or audio calls, write long posts, and access the AI chatbot Grok. Although some features are available to premium users.
Everything App Still In The Making
Elon Musk envisioned transforming X into an “everything app,” starting with a payments system. Despite challenges, including significant layoffs reducing the workforce to 1,500 by August 2023, the team under new CEO Linda Yaccarino, who joined in June 2023, is making progress. They secured money-transfer licenses in 12 US states in January 2024.
Musk has generated considerable interest with his announcement that users will soon be able to enjoy long-form videos directly on their TVs through X. This project aims to offer a complete multimedia experience, shifting the focus from smartphone screens to the larger screens of televisions.
This feature will initially arrive on Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire TVs, allowing users to access a wide range of X video content similar to those on platforms such as YouTube . Behavioral data from X users, who strongly prefer watching videos on the platform, will drive this move.
Musk’s strategy also aims to regain some of the users lost over the years. According to a study by Edison Research, there was a 30% decrease in US users compared to 2023.
Attracting new users and offering long video content viewable on TV could open up new monetization opportunities through advertising. This will not only enhance the user experience on X but also strengthen its position in the social networking market and ensure its long-term competitiveness.
Elon Musk’s initiative to introduce video viewing on TV through X represents a significant step toward realizing his ambitious project of transforming the social network into an “everything app.” However, how this innovation will affect the social media landscape remains unclear.
