Deciphering Vision: Twitter Changes To X
Reverse Engineering of Corporate Choices in a series of articles, this time Twitter’s new vision of X.
Twitter — a microblogging social platform that has created a solid brand. “Tweeting” is the verb people use. The bluebird is highly recognized, and real-time communication is identified with the platform.
As of 2022, Twitter had at least 330 million monthly active users; each attracted to the platform’s concise, fast-paced, and open discourse style. The strength of Twitter’s brand lies in its uniqueness.
Microblogging offers a different experience from photo-heavy platforms like Instagram or the multi-feature behemoth Facebook. But, social networks need to evolve constantly or face stagnation.
With social networks, changes are expected.
And now, Elon Musk and Twitter’s CEO Linda Yaccarino unveiled a new strategic direction for Twitter:
Let’s dive into the X announcement and its meaning:
From the details provided, it seems X represents a significant strategic reorientation for Twitter towards becoming a ‘super-app’, akin to China’s WeChat. This ambitious vision aims to evolve Twitter into an all-in-one platform, encapsulating various online activities within a single application. A part of this vision is re-branding the bluebird to X.
The concept of a super-app is not new, particularly in Asian markets, where apps like WeChat, Line, and Grab have successfully incorporated many services, including social networking, messaging, e-commerce, financial services, and entertainment. However, this concept still needs to be explored in the American digital landscape (in my opinion, this is an untapped market that Twitter will double down on).
Some of these expanded functionalities are already present on Twitter, albeit in a limited form. Features like live audio conversations (Twitter Spaces), the ability to send longer text messages, and video broadcasting are the first expiriments for the X strsategy.
From the monetization POV, Twitter is experimenting to find the right way. If its push into paid subscriptions is successful, Twitter could share subscription revenue with users, transforming itself into a mainstream version of platforms like Patreon. It remains to be seen which monitization models will work.
However, this strategic shift has its challenges.
Twitter’s reputation has been built on being a go-to platform for real-time information and open discussions. Repositioning the platform into a super-app would require investment, time, and a well-structured approach.
While doing so, users might be lost as there is a massive change in the value proposition and the mental models that made us all use and love the platform. Therefore, user adoption is not guaranteed, as the key reasons people visit Twitter today differ from the functionalities that X offers.
X is an ambitious step by Twitter towards becoming a one-stop platform for various online activities. This evolution, though promising, is fraught with challenges, and only time will tell if Twitter’s gamble pays off.
Let me know which companies you want me to add to this series of “unveiling the vision”.
