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How long do you think we'll keep seeing "formerly Twitter"?

I'm genuinely curious about peoples thoughts on this.

It made sense for a while. But the branding change was 16 months ago. The URI change was 3 months ago. Everybody knows now what X is. Yet for some reason, I still see in news stories today:
"... on X — formerly known as Twitter — and said ..."
I really don't think that's needed anymore. But I'm always one to want changes as fast and painless as possible.

So what do you think would be an appropriate amount of time to keep reminding everyone that Twitter is now X?
Months?
Years?
How many?

83 comments
  • I think one of the reasons why we're still seeing this done by journalists is because Elon's takeover is probably relevant to whatever it is they're reporting. I've definitely seen articles just refer to it as "X". But whenever it's a story about some crazy racist shit someone said or how poorly their advertising business is doing, it's "formerly Twitter".

    That said, I think online people who aren't writing for news outlets and aren't insane will — for the most part — always call it Twitter out of spite until the site either dies or Musk sells it and it changes back.

  • Comcast introduced the "Xfinity" branding in 2010. I still call refer to it as "Comcast". Any conversation I have where an ISP comes up, the word "Comcast" is used. If someone says "Xfinity", they often follow it up with "you know, Comcast".

    Now that's a VERY clear brand change.

    The name "X" is a VERY confusing brand change. It will likely be called Twitter forever. In fact at some point Musk will sell or give up on "X" and I guarantee within a year the new owner will change the name back to Twitter.

    • In that case Comcast is still the company name. Xfinity is just a branding of the consumer services division.

  • Until the public short message service no longer exists?

    This could happen in a number of ways.

  • It is happening. If you look for news of, e.g. "Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Harris", most outlets just say 'X'.

    In my results, The Guardian, the BBC, The Independent, Fortune, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The Hill just used 'X'. Politico said 'on social media'. Only Forbes did the 'formerly Twitter' thing.

  • Seriously though, what is x.com and the x app? I just followed the link to google play and it seems'ish like it's just the twitter microblog, but I'm seeing things mentioned that I didn't think are part of twitter. I've never used twitter or any x products, so I'm actually in the dark.

  • My mind keeps coming up with tag lines for X….

    X:

    … where the fruits of piracy can be found

    … - rated best for quirky images

    … where you’ll find that special someone you realized you DON’T want to spend the rest of your life with.

    Anyone got more?

    • ...the best coffee shop for nazis. ...a modern dating app for the ugliest humanity has to offer. ...bro! ...this is what happens when you abuse ketamine.

    • X: It's like Twitter, but it's shitter.

  • I have been mentally keeping track how often I see "formerly Twitter" and I'm surprised that it's lasted this long tbh

  • I don't think the platform will last long enough to care. In a year or two it'll be "X, formely known an Twitter, currently remembered as Elon's clusterfuck."

  • Yeah, its getting absurd by now. Maybe we should help with the rebranding a lil bit... In Polish I prefer to call it exTwitter, but in English I'd hope calling it just "formerly" will catch on.

83 comments