Tweaking Name, Changing Logo, Metrics: How Musk Changed Twitter Experience

It is nearly six months since Elon Musk took control of Twitter for $44 billion and the company has barely been out of the headlines. The billionaire businessman has made many controversial decisions, including firing top Twitter executives, laying off 50 per cent of the workforce, and launching a number of new features which were later rolled back.

Although the billionaire has made dozens of tweaks to Twitter, "they have largely been cosmetic", an independent software engineer told New York Times. Wong added that Musk's changes have mostly "affected the platform's appearance. Those updates include adding more symbols and metrics displayed with tweets, but Twitter's main elements - making it a place to quickly share news and discuss live events - haven't altered."

Features launched by Elon Musk

Twitter now Titter

Elon Musk has now covered the "W" in the microblogging platform's name outside the company's headquarters in San Francisco, US. Sharing a photo of the changed Twitter sign, Elon Musk said, "Our landlord at SF HQ says we're legally required to keep the sign as Twitter and cannot remove "w", so we painted its background colour. Problem solved."

This is not the first time, Elon Musk has hinted at changing Twitter's name. Last year in April, he conducted a poll on Twitter asking users if the letter "W" should be deleted. He gave only two options in the poll - "Yes" and "Of course".

Iconic Blue Bird Logo To Doge

The Twitter boss changed the iconic blue bird logo - which has served as a home button on the web version, with the "doge" meme of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. However, the blue Twitter bird logo was back for most of the users after two days. According to a Bloomberg report, Dogecoin dropped by nine per cent as soon as Twitter reverted to its old bird logo.

Controversial Accounts Reinstated

Elon Musk reinstated several accounts that were previously subject to lifetime bans. Musk had previously stated that he does not believe that anyone should be removed from the site for life. He said that he is looking to give users a "timeout" rather than a lifelong ban.

The self-described "free speech absolutist" reinstated several accounts that were previously banned or suspended including Donald Trump, Kanye West, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, the Babylon Bee and Kathy Griffin, to name a few.

Twitter Blue

Shortly after the Twitter takeover, Elon Musk announced a plan that led to a huge uproar - to charge $8 for joining the exclusive club of those who have the coveted blue tick. Many celebrities criticised the plan, but Mr Musk justified it by citing the cost to operate the company. But the scheme saw a proliferation of many fake verified accounts after which it was suspended.

The bonus features include an edit button, boosted visibility and fewer ads.

Silver and Gold Ticks

Chief Executive Elon Musk allotted colours for the categories - gold for companies, grey for governments and a blue check for individuals including celebrities.

"Painful, but necessary," he said, adding that verified accounts will be manually authenticated before a check is activated.

Newsfeed

One of the most notable differences on Twitter is its newsfeed. According to New York Times, Twitter previously appeared as a single flow of posts, displaying tweets from only the accounts that a user followed. Elon Musk has cleaved the newsfeed into two. Now, users can see an algorithmically curated "For You" feed which mimics a popular feature on TikTok, and a "Following" tab.

Metrics

Previously, Twitter users could only like, retweet or reply to a post, after Musk's takeover, every tweet has metrics attached. For instance, a user can be how many times a post has been viewed.