X: Is Elon Musk’s New Bet the End of Twitter?

Elon Musk is one of the most eccentric billionaires. His financial bets have been risky but with excellent results. For years he has been betting on self-driving vehicles, and today Tesla is a reality and one of the companies with the highest market value. Likewise, he bet on space travel, and with SpaceX, he has broken paradigms and will be a pioneer in a new multi-million dollar market. Now the new bet is to rebrand Twitter, the microblogging social network, to "X." This represents not only a change of name but also a change of business model.

A Mega Social Network

Even without knowing what's coming with X, Musk has hinted at some changes. The Tesla owner has already said that with X, he will offer a financial world for users. But it would be almost the end of the idea of microblogs. Videos will be one of the main ones, and many more.

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With little information, Musk's idea is to create a mega social network similar to those in China. WeChat is an example of what X would like to replicate but in the West. The Chinese social network allows you to chat, send photos or information, and call or make video calls, all for free.

But it also offers a range of paid services, such as investment services, Google Maps-like mapping of places, making transfers, ordering taxis, buying airline tickets, making medical appointments, etc.

CNBC reported Musk's intention to partner with the stock and cryptocurrency trading platform eToro.

Musk's Names

One of the most striking things about what is coming for the "new social network" is the name. Just one letter, the X. But this is nothing new for Musk; it's almost a trademark. Just like his company SpaceX, Musk has a taste for this letter. He also used this letter for the Artificial Intelligence company "X.ai" and a Tesla model. But he doesn't just stick to his companies. A couple of years ago, Musk and his wife, Canadian singer Grimes, named their son X Æ A-12 (or "X Æ A-Xii").

As explained later, the X stands for the unknown, as it is the sign given to the variable in mathematics. In addition, "Æ" stands for "AI" for artificial intelligence (or love) but in Elvish language. At the same time, the A-12 is a model aircraft. "A-12" is the name of the model that preceded the SR-71, "our favorite plane," said Grimes, who, like her partner, is an aviation enthusiast.

Are they Killing Twitter?

Since Elon Musk took a majority stake in Twitter, he has taken several controversial steps. First, he cut staff by laying off thousands of workers. According to Musk, the number of staff operating at Twitter was inefficient.

Likewise, from the beginning, he declared that he would have a platform that guarantees freedom of expression, over and above censorship. This, even though it may be hate speech or speech attacking a minority or discriminating. This brought him applause from sectors that were censored in the past and criticism from moderate groups.

Then came the decision to charge for the blue check. Although the idea is moving forward today, there should have been several changes to the process, as it generated chaos and a number of impostors.

Recently, Musk, with the idea of reducing costs and increasing subscribers, developed a message consumption system. Depending on the time of the account and whether it is verified or not, a maximum of messages and daily content could be seen. However, the South African tycoon had to backtrack in the face of complaints and rejection of this idea. Additionally, this could go against the business of a social network, as the more time a person spends on the platform, the better it can monetize.

Today, alternative platforms have emerged in the face of Twitter's missteps and the rejection it has generated from various sectors. The most important is Threats, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and owner of Meta (which includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). In response to Muks' fear of new competition that could imitate Twitter's platform, he threatened a possible copyright lawsuit.