When Elon Musk bought popular social media platform Twitter in 2022, the tech world was excited to see the richest man in the world throw his hat into the social media ring. Shortly after, Twitter as everyone knew it ceased to exist.
The landscape of the internet had changed forever, and 500 million actively monthly users found themselves part of Musk’s latest business venture.
Three years on, we look back at what happened to Twitter, what X has become, and what we can expect to see next from the former social giant.
What Happened to Twitter?
Twitter was one of the biggest social media platforms around, with 541.56 million monthly active users in 2023, marking an all-time high in user activity.
At this point, it seemed like Musk's acquisition the year before was positive. But then, in July 2023, he stated plans to "bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds". Two weeks later, Twitter became X, Tweets had become posts, and the iconic blue bird had been reduced to a single, art-deco letter.
Twitter Rebrands as X
Twitter’s rebrand to X can be interpreted as Musk’s way of transforming the social media platform into a new social media app He stated that he bought Twitter "as an accelerant for X, the everything app".
His obsession with the letter X can be traced back to 1999 when he founded financial start-up x.com (which would later become PayPal). He also launched SpaceX, has the Model X as part of the Tesla roster, and even named his 11th child X.
When did Twitter become X?
Twitter officially rebranded as X on July 23, 2023, the year after Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter.
In a post shared just a couple of days following the rebrand, Musk shared: "The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video."
Do people call Twitter X?
The short answer is no. A recent study showed that 72% of Americans still call the app Twitter. Major broadcasters still use the Twitter brand with X interchangeably, and the Associated Press stylebook suggests global media outlets still refer to the app as "X, formerly known as Twitter".
Tech commentators are divided on whether the move will prove to be brand suicide or a positive change. Either way, with Twitter and Tweets having had such an effect on pop culture for so long, it will take a while before X catches on.
How is X Doing Now?
As of 2025, it appears that X is struggling to make money and remain profitable. A recent report from Bloomberg revealed that some of the banks that loaned money to Musk to buy Twitter are now looking for ways to offload the debt that's owed. This revelation has highlighted some of the real financials that Musk and X is going through.
While Bloomberg has reported that the $1.2 billion in earnings is “roughly flat” from the period before Elon acquired the app, this isn't necessarily a good thing, when you take the debt and interest accrued into account.
This is especially worrying considering that the interest for the loans reportedly total around $1.2 billion per year, suggesting that X actually didn't make any money in 2024.
In 2023, X had 556 million active monthly users. The platform’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, announced proudly that they had received 10 million new sign-ups in December alone, though didn’t elaborate on how that compared with an average month.
It remained the most popular social app of its kind, easily weathering the storm of copycats (Threads, Mastodon, Truth Social et al).
That being said, mutual fund Fidelity reported the value of X/Twitter had dropped by 71% (from $44 billion to $12.5 billion) since Elon’s acquisition to the start of 2024. It also lost half a billion users following the rebrand, with users plummeting by over 10% in September 2023 alone.
Following the acquisition, the monetisation model set in place also did not test well with users. Comments below X posts are now commonly flooded with engagement farmers and OnlyFans models, following the change to push and promote replies from paid users.
Furthermore, Elon’s pursuit for free speech has led to a clear rise in misinformation, harassment, hate speech, and NSFW content on the platform.
With more of Gen Z now using TikTok over X as a news platform/search engine/way to keep up with their favorite celebrities and sports teams, it remains to be seen who will come out on top in this new social media battle.
There has been a significant shift in user behavior away from X towards alternative short form platforms, such as Bluesky. Many users cite concerns over content moderation, changes to the platform's algorithm, and Musk's controversial statements as reasons to move away to other, alternative social platforms.
Will Twitter Survive?
The survival of Twitter, or X, remains to be seen. The platform is reportedly struggling to make money, and Musk allegedly shared an email to staff claiming that X is “barely breaking even”. Musk has denied this email was shared.
Revenue will need to grow for the platform to repay the debts and interest from the Twitter acquisition.
Users should watch this space for the latest in X/Twitter news.
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