The Evolution of Social Media: Twitter Becomes X

It’s been a year of continued change in the social media landscape - from Meta launching Threads to Twitter’s rebrand as X.

Here’s what you need to know about Elon Musk’s self-described ‘super app’.

When did Twitter become X?

Elon Musk announced the Twitter rebrand on July 23, 2023, after alluding to it in late 2022. He describes X as the ‘everything app,’ comparable to WeChat, a Chinese platform for messaging, voice and video calls, social media posts, payment services, and more.

The rebrand was met with mixed responses, with X traffic and advertising down 10% in the first week.

With the rebrand has come several new features on X, including new brand safety features for advertisers, video calls coming soon, removal of the block feature, and the ability for users to hide their ‘Twitter Blue’ checkmarks.

News Consumption on X

While some analysts wonder if X could be edged out by other platforms – with the introduction of text-based posts on TikTok or alternatives like Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon – it also has the potential to become a main source for news with Bill C-18 blocking news for Canadians on other platforms.

X users are already avid news consumers. According to 2022 data from the app, 83% of users post about news and 3 in 4 people who come to X for news do so at least once a day. 55% of users get their news from X, more than other social media platforms. The platform also connects people with news outlets and journalists. A 2022 study from Pew Research showed Twitter was the most-used social media platform among journalists.

It should be noted that Australia’s National Broadcaster abandoned X in August, citing negative changes under Musk. But as the impacts of Bill C-18 start to be felt, there could be more Canadians turning to X to get their news.

Yet it’s hard to predict how X will react to this. In a move that left many journalists angry, on August 21, Musk announced plans to change how news articles appear on X, removing the headline and other text so that tweets with links display only an article’s lead image. The intention behind this is reportedly to allow more posts to appear on each user’s timeline and reduce clickbait on X.

What’s Next for X?

As these changes continue to shake out, keep an eye on X but don’t forget about going to other sources for your news – the homepage of your favourite news site, subscribing to a digital or print publication, or tuning into the morning and evening news. If you’re a business that is using X to distribute your news, build your newsletter list, tell customers to bookmark your homepage, and grow your other social accounts.

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