Is this it for 'X' (the app formerly known as Twitter)?

[Everything Zen]

^^^^ Facts! Like the billionaire doctor I worked for had this umbrella company name and every sub company was a spin-off of that same name before investors advised against bc his reputation was trash and they said he needed to shed it to avoid all the negative connotations and essentially appoint a shell CEO.

 

[awhyley]

Again, doing things out of order and now probably going to face the consequences.

Meta already appears to hold the rights to 'X.' It could make Twitter's rebrand complicated.​

Sonam Sheth and Sindhu Sundar
Jul 24, 2023, 4:49 PM EDT

• Elon Musk announced on Sunday that he would begin the process of rebranding Twitter to X.
• But Mark Zuckerberg's Meta already appears to have a trademark for an "X" logo.
• Musk's new logo for X also resembles a Unicode character and a Monotype font.

Twitter may have hit a snag while rolling out its new logo — it seems like Meta already holds the rights to it.

Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, announced on Sunday that the platform would now be called X, but Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has already registered an "X" logo in connection to "online social networking services" and "social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming, and application development."

Twitter's new logo, which was rolled out Monday, also resembles a generic Unicode character known as "mathematical double-struck capital X" that was added to the Unicode in March 2001.

Unicode is an international computing standard in which every character or symbol has a specific numerical value that can be used across platforms. Matthew Scroggs, a postdoctoral research fellow at University College London, tweeted that the character had "been used in mathematical text books since the 70s."

The symbol doesn't have a specific, universal use, but it's sometimes used to denote an abstract geometric space or object. The new logo is also nearly identical to the lowercase x in the Monotype font "Special Alphabet 4." Trademarks are what lawyers call "source identifiers" — a symbol or branding that customers associate with a company. Twitter's iconic bird logo has been exactly that — a unique stencil image of a small bird that the general public has come to identify with the social-media site.

Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer who is a founding partner at the D.C.-based law firm Gerben IP, said a logo needed to be unique and distinctive in some way to be trademarked with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Meta's "X" logo in its trademark filings looks different from the one Musk put on Twitter's website. Meta's "X" looks like two arrows with rounded ends pointing inwards — one white and one blue — while Twitter's "X" is a black-and-white angular rendition.

But Twitter could run into some hurdles given that it wants to use its X for social-networking purposes, similar to what was stated in Meta's filings. Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trademarks also have more value and protection the longer they're in use, Gerben said, meaning Musk's new logo is vulnerable to legal challenges in a way that Twitter's more established icons aren't.

"My first thought is how much value is probably tied into the Twitter brand, and the bird logo, that has been cast aside," Gerben said. "Because it's exceptionally rare that any brand becomes so pervasive in culture and quite frankly, around the world, as Twitter has become."

Twitter auto-replied to a request for comment with a message saying that the communications department would get back to us soon.

Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/met...HVRUgzfcu_TWuz2PTObUQr58jStFRPn0qe9gRa8J3YLtw

 

[awhyley]

Ye is free to rant on Twitter again.

Elon Musk reinstates Kanye West’s Twitter account after ban​

Social media platform rebranded as X lifts ban on rapper-producer imposed after swastika tweet.

Kanye West’s account on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has been reinstated almost eight months after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David.

The rapper-producer and designer, legally known as Ye, embarked on a series of antisemitic rants on social media and during interviews towards the end of last year. In October, he tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people. His account was subsequently locked but he was soon readmitted.

Less than a fortnight after he returned to the platform, he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis before posting the swastika image. This prompted a formal suspension meted out by the Twitter owner, Elon Musk, which has now been lifted.

who calls himself a free speech absolutist, tweeted at the time: “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing X, that Ye would not be able to monetise his account – a function introduced earlier this year by which people can subscribe to certain accounts whose profiles otherwise remain private.

Ye’s account was reinstated after X reportedly received assurances that he would not exploit the platform by sharing antisemitic or harmful comments. In March, Ye said he “likes Jewish people again” after watching Jonah Hill in the movie 21 Jump Street.

As of Sunday morning, he had not tweeted since before the suspension. In one of his last posts, on 1 December, the day before losing access to his account, he said: “Cancel cancel culture.”

Ye, who has won two dozen Grammy awards and first gained popular acclaim with his celebrated debut album The College Dropout, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder several years ago and has spoken publicly about his mental health challenges.

He deactivated his Instagram account earlier this year after two high-profile suspensions. He lost his partnership with Adidas and Gap for Yeezy products amid the uproar over his incendiary comments.

On Friday, X placed a lighted sign of its new, “interim” single-lettered name on the roof of its San Francisco headquarters.

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...instates-kanye-west-twitter-account-after-ban

 

[charmingt]

 

[charmingt]

 

[charmingt]

 

[awhyley]

Twitter, or rather X, is having a garage sale. Elon's gutting of the place is almost complete.

X to auction off old Twitter items, from desk chairs to painting of Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar Selfie​

By Jennifer Korn
Published 11:31 AM EDT, Thu August 10, 2023

New YorkCNN —
Twitter has officially rebranded as X — so owner Elon Musk is holding a giant garage sale to purge the company’s HQ of remnants of the past.
Items up for auction range from a standard desk chair to a large bird cage welded with a Twitter logo bird and everything in between.

Since buying Twitter less than a year ago, Musk has worked to remake the social media site. He’s laid off most of the company’s employees, instituted a paywall and eliminated most account authentication, among other changes.

Interested buyers can browse through numerous “#” and “@”statues, paintings of Ellen DeGeneres’ viral 2014 Oscar selfie and Barack Obama celebrating his reelection, a reconstructed barn from Montana and numerous musical instruments.

On top of the more outlandish items, Twitter is looking to get rid of office equipment including desks, chairs and refrigerators.

The auction, run by Heritage Global Partners (HGP), opens September 12 and runs for two days in San Francisco. Viewing is available by appointment only, with all 584 items opening with a bid of 25 dollars.


Twitter also put memorabilia up for auction in January, trying to offload similar items.
X and HGP did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the auction.

Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/10/tech/twitter-auction-items/index.html

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[awhyley]

Last week, I was going to ask whether this was still a go. This week, apparently, it is.

 

[awhyley]

Italian mayors are still hoping that an Elon v. Zuck fight could boost their towns' profiles, despite the Meta CEO getting tired of Musk's shenanigans​

Pete Syme
Aug 17, 2023, 6:02 AM EDT

• Elon v Zuck is looking less likely, but location proposals are still coming in, per Euronews.
• Musk said there was "some chance" it would happen at the Colosseum, but Italian officials denied this.
• The mayor of Pompeii is keen to host a bout, and Florence's mayor suggested "a clash of ideas" instead.

Plans for a fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg appear to be scuppered after the Meta CEO grew tired of the other billionaire's shenanigans. But the mayors of Italian towns and cities are still vying to host a potential bout between the pair, Euronews reported.

Rome's Colosseum previously looked like a potential setting, after Musk tweeted there was "some chance" it would happen there. But then an official from Italy's culture ministry told The Telegraph they hadn't had contact from either party about this. Musk then provoked Zuckerberg by claiming details had been agreed with Italy's prime minister and minister of culture, with the contest to happen in "an epic location."

"If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me," Zuckerberg responded. "Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously." Despite this, there have been at least seven proposals from other Italian cities, including Pompeii and Verona, to host a potential fight, according to Euronews.

Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/mus...cities-propose-epic-location-for-fight-2023-8

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[kcbelle925]

He's running out of money. He needs to pay the law firm he owes money to. The same firm that forced him to buy Twitter and now refusing to pay them.

Edited to add a link to give context to my comment.

Elon Musk sues law firm that led fight to make him complete Twitter takeover—and charged $90 million

The firm arranged to “line its pockets” knowing “lame-duck” execs were running Twitter, the suit alleges.

fortune.com

 

[Black Ambrosia]

He's running out of money. He needs to pay the law firm he owes money to. The same firm that forced him to buy Twitter and now refusing to pay them.

This tracks. This is the same guy who didn't pay the cleaning crew or the rent at Twitter. I wonder where that stands.

Side note: It annoys me that 'business leaders' never get called out for trifling behavior.

 

[gn1g]

if he charges a subscription price, that's it for me

 

[awhyley]

Sidenote: #BoyMath is taking Twitter/X by storm (#GirlMath and #BlackMath for honorable mention)

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[awhyley]

Not sure he responded, as he's too busy implementing charges on new users.

Elon Musk’s X/Twitter to Charge $1 per Year for Users to Post on the Platform, Starting With Test in Two Countries​

By Todd Spangler, J. Kim Murphy
Oct 17, 2023 5:48pm PT

Elon Musk has kicked off his plan to charge users of X, formerly known as Twitter, to post content to the social network.

As of Oct. 17, 2023, X said in a post on its website that it has started testing “Not A Bot,” a new subscription tier for new users in two countries: the Philippines and New Zealand.

The “Not a Bot” subscription plan will cost $1 annually, according to X (adding that prices vary by country and currency). New users on X on the plan will be able to “perform certain actions on the web version of the platform: post content, Like posts, Reply, Repost and Quote other accounts’ posts, Bookmark posts.”

New X users who do not pay the $1/year fee will only be able to take “read-only” actions, such as: read posts, watch videos and follow accounts, according to X.

On Tuesday, in a post on X, Musk said the platform going forward will be free to read, “but $1/year to write. It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users. This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform.”

Musk last month said X/Twitter is “moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system” — a step that is necessary, he said, to thwart the plague of bots flooding the platform. His comments about charging X users came during a discussion on AI that included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Musk said the monthly fee might be “a few dollars or something,” which he said would be sufficient to deter the creation of bot accounts.

“This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity,” X said in the post about the Not a Bot subscription plan. “This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. Within this test, existing users are not affected.”

Pricing in New Zealand will be $1.43 NZD per year, and in the Philippines it will be ₱42.51 PHP per year. New accounts created on X, in these two countries, will first be required to verify their phone number.

In October 2022, after Musk begrudgingly closed the debt-laden $44 billion deal for Twitter, he fired Twitter’s senior management team — and installed himself as CEO. Musk then oversaw mass layoffs at Twitter, cutting an estimated 80% of the company’s workforce. He announced that he was renaming Twitter as “X” in July.

News of X’s plans to charge a $1/yearly fee to new users was first reported by Fortune. ***

Link: https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/x-twitter-charge-users-one-dollar-per-year-test-1235760066/

*** I did attempt to post the original story from Fortune, but there was a paywall.

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[charmingt]

 

[Black Ambrosia]

 

[charmingt]

 

[awhyley]

Yep, they're sinking fast. Every time I think that Twitter/X is going to stop being a business case for foolishness, Elon just goes over the top (again).
It's shocking how one crazy move causes this much loss in business, in one day no less. He just outdoes himself every time.

 

[Black Ambrosia]

This man is the definition of self destructive.

 

[yamilee21]

I don’t know… he’s a lot like Trump in some ways; no matter what awful thing he says or does, the consequences are minimal. Even if all these corporations have stopped advertising on “X,” more people still seem to be using the app, than all the similar apps put together. Even this thread has been going on all this time - I think by now we can see that not only wasn’t it the end, it doesn’t appear that there will be an end at all, no matter how low Musk sinks.

 

[charmingt]

 

[charmingt]

I guess twitter is no more. I guess X is no more too.

 

[PatDM'T]