Is the pressure to innovate impacting Twitter (now X)’s ability to stay relevant?

Ever since waking up to the news of Twitter rebranding as ‘X’, the internet has been in a frenzy. But what is the impact of this change in regard to the social media landscape we currently reside in?

This is what we know so far…Twitter formally changed its name to X in April 2023 in a bid to turn the app as we know it into ‘a super-app’. With new platforms emerging with a very similar interface (Threads), we believe Twitter (X) had little choice but to make drastic changes to stay relevant. It was either innovate or be left behind.

For now, the buzz about the change seems to have an air of confusion, with many predicting the app’s demise, and as the bird logo is removed with very little warning, there is certainly a lot to consider when planning your next marketing campaign involving the app.

Although there has been an immediate logo change with this rebrand, the relaunch doesn’t look like it will happen overnight, with the site still featuring all the previous brands logos, guidelines, and interface. It’s unclear yet how long relaunch will take, which makes it difficult to schedule X into your next campaign.

For many the quick URL redirect and logo changes have caused fear as the speed of the switch is likely to cause “security issues with DNS servers (key pieces of internet infrastructure responsible for directing visitors to the current website) still need to catch up with the new ownership” and the obvious “phishing attack risk” to consumers. There’s also a clear SEO risk, as visitors searching for X are met with the 2022 film’s reviews on IMDb.

According to Ahrefs.com, Twitter.com’s domain authority is 99 whereas X.com is currently ranking at a much lower 79. The current site redirects to Twitter, which causes a jarring user experience: one that will hopefully be resolved in coming weeks.

There’s also a considerable risk concerning the loss of the almost unparalleled cultural equity that Twitter has accrued as a brand. For example, retweet has been in the OED for more than a decade (it was added earlier, oddly enough, than the additional definition of tweet). Leaving behind a brand that has become so ubiquitous as to have its own verbs is surely a bold move.

For advertisers, the change is not without putative opportunities: we have been promised paid “shopping features” and “paid subscription content”.  We predict there will be an air of uncertainty for brands to invest in X; something we often see when new platforms emerge or make radical changes. However, we think there could be benefit in adopting early as there is likely to be a buzz around the app as it starts to make drastic changes.

We will be speaking to our reps at X closely to understand the timelines, benefits and risk of investment, advising our clients on if, when and how they should spend on X in coming months.

For more paid social insights please get in touch at [email protected].

References: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-rebrand-x-name-change-elon-musk-what-it-means/#:~:text=Musk%20regained%20ownership%20of%20X,the%20company’s%20San%20Francisco%20headquarters.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/24/elon-musk-risks-more-damage-to-twitter-business-after-name-change-to-x.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2023/07/24/the-x-rated-problem-with-twitters-new-name-for-millions-of-users/

https://business.twitter.com/