What’s your view on Twitter changing its identity? We asked our Wizard with Words for his views, and here goes Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 28 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. Your view on X? It’s finally more than just a change of name and identity. For many, it’s a way of life…
A. I recall that when Musk bought Twitter October last year, he laid out a vision for an “everything” app called X, where users could communicate, shop, consume entertainment, and more. Last June — prior to his takeover — Musk told Twitter employees that the platform should be more like China’s WeChat, where he said users “basically live on” the app because “it’s so usable and helpful to daily life.”
So, I agree with you that this move is more than a mere change of name and identity. According to Twitter CEO. X is the future state of unlimited interactivity — centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect all in ways which the audience is just beginning to imagine.
If we see the change from the above prism, I think Musk has a mega-plan. That he has an obsession for X as a letter is well-known by now.
But I can imagine Musk would face quite a few challenges on the way to match the brand provenance of the blue bird with X. Besides, the letter is so common that I won’t be surprised that there would be legal challenges for getting an exclusive right of the letter X. Secondly, analysts perceive that Musk’s move would wipe out anywhere between $4 billion and $20 billion in value. I don’t have any supporting data on the same. I am going by public domain speculations.
Now, one has to wait and watch if loyal users of Twitter would switch their loyalty or a new set of users would come. Would the Brand Musk be stronger than the Twitter Brand? Only the future can answer this question. But as the adage goes, if one has to be a path-maker, one has to be path-breaker.