It’s no surprise that a lot has changed with the app previously known as Twitter. After being bought by Elon Musk, the company has undergone a lot of changes, including a complete rebrand, starting with the name X.
I spend a large amount of time on the app everyday, and at least once a week I’m seeing new posts about changes to X. Twitter Circles, which are an opportunity for people to pick the users they would like to see specific tweets of theirs, will be gone by Oct. 31 . Anybody that has a lot of experience with oversharing on the internet knows that Twitter Circles are the perfect opportunity to share all your thoughts, dreams and problems in a more private space.
People are upset, rightfully so, that they no longer have a safe space to overshare. The worst part? “Retweets” are gone. They’re “Reposts” now, like every other app. Twitter was a unique app, with a bird icon, and the company centered around that as their brand. “Quote Tweets” are just “Quotes” now. The fun the app had has been sucked away and it makes spending time on it less enjoyable.
User happiness is going down every time something changes for the worse on the app, and it is very apparent as you scroll on the app. After the Twitter Circle removal announcement, it was clear long-time users of the feature were upset, “Ugh! I hate they removed twitter circle. I have something to say,” said Twitter user, UHD3A.
Another user of the site felt similarly with the circles being removed, “I don’t have too much to say outside my Twitter circle so God knows with this app after it’s removed,” said user SammGee. It’s clear that people are upset about the change, and I wouldn’t be surprised if engagement and number of consistent users decreases after such prominent changes.
Twitter’s rebrand was a brainless business decision because in the App Store, it now says “Formerly Twitter” under X. If you have to go that far to clarify the connection between the app before and after its rebrand, it’s not a smart business decision.
The hardest thing to watch is a failed rebrand. It’s embarrassing to see people still calling it Twitter. The app had such a strong effect that this rebrand isn’t sticking. It just looks like Twitter is pretending to be X to play a prank on users but nobody believes it, so they’re calling it what it really is. Which frankly, for how much work Musk has put into this, makes it quite embarrassing.
With rumors of a monthly subscription service to use the site , Twitter/X may see a serious downfall soon. Not only will they lose money because people won’t buy into the service, but they’ll lose thousands of users. What started as a bad rebrand, has become even worse by expecting long-time users to pay for an app they no longer enjoy.
I think it’s ridiculous. Twitter as an app functioned just fine, with algorithms that worked, Twitter Circles and the cute notable blue bird icon. Now, the logo is black and it looks like a tech company took it over to teach their employees how to ruin something good just to get money.
The people just want Twitter back, we want the little blue bird back and we want to be able to “retweet” things again instead of reposting them. Twitter existed for so long with a positive reputation and brand, and it has been sad to watch it’s downfall as a long time lover and user. Hopefully, Musk and the company start listening to what the users want again, so that maybe the app can return to its glory once again.
