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X (formerly Twitter)

X (formerly Twitter)221 posts

X, formerly known as Twitter, is an online service that lets users send and read short messages. The site is used by celebrities, brands and journalists to distribute news directly to their fans. The site was launched in July 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on November 7, 2013. The company was purchased by Elon Musk, for $44 billion, in September 2022 and rebranded as X on July 24, 2023.

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6 Sep, 2023

Musk borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX in same month of Twitter deal

Fundraising1 Comments

The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX in October 2022, the same month he bought Twitter. The loan was backed by some of Musk’s SpaceX stock and Musk drew all of the funds down the same month. According to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, as of March 2023, Musk is SpaceX’s largest shareholder with a 42% stake and almost 79% of its voting power. SpaceX had $4.7 billion in cash and securities on hand at the end of 2022.

5 Sep, 2023

Musk biography: Ex-Twitter CEO Agrawal lacked ‘leadership quality’

Makes Statement3 Comments

An excerpt from an upcoming Musk biography reports that, after meeting Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal for dinner in March 2022, Musk concluded that the CEO did not have leadership quality:

He’s a really nice guy. What Twitter needs is a fire-breathing dragon and Parag is not that.

Musk fired Agrawal shortly after he purchased the company.

4 Sep, 2023

Musk to sue ADL for £22 billion for ‘trying to kill’ X with false anti-semitism claims

Accusation2 Comments

In a series of tweets, Musk says he will sue the Anti-Defamation League for $22 billion, which he says is 60% in lost revenue, as a result of the organisation putting pressure on advertisers to stop using the platform with claims that Musk and X is anti-semitic.

To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind. Since the acquisition, The @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic. Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter! If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the “Anti-Defamation” League. If they lose the defamation suit, we will insist that they drop the the “anti” part of their name, since obviously …

Musk later explains:

Advertisers avoid controversy, so all that is needed for ADL to crush our US & European ad revenue is to make unfounded accusations. They have much less power in Asia, so our ad revenue there is still strong. This “controversy” causes advertisers to “pause”, but that pause is permanent until ADL gives the green light, which they will not do without us agreeing to secretly suspend or shadowban any account they don’t like. That is the relationship they’ve had with X/Twitter for many years. Presumably, they have that with all western search or social media orgs.

When told about a $10.5 million defamation fine awarded against ADL, Musk says that the organisation would be potentially liable for half of X’s revenue:

Interesting. In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.

1 Sep, 2023

X to train AI models with users’ posts

Announcement2 Comments

X plans a change to its privacy policy that will allow information posted by users to be used to train its AI models. Musk says X will train AI models only with publicly available information. It will not use “DMs or anything private.” The updated policy states that the company:

may use the information we collect and publicly available information to help train our machine learning or artificial intelligence models for the purposes outlined in this policy.

30 Aug, 2023

Musk booed by gamers chanting ‘Bring back Twitter’

Cameo/Guest Appearance4 Comments

When Musk is briefly shown on camera during the broadcast of the Valorant World Championship Final, the crowd of gamers boos, prompting a surprised reaction from the event’s announcers, who did not address Musk’s roughly four-second appearance on camera. The crowd then shouts “Bring back Twitter!. Organiusers:

Where is that from? That can’t be from in here, surely?

Musk later laughed off the incident, describing the booing crowd members as “unhinged leftists.”

22 Aug, 2023

Musk to remove headlines from news articles shared on X

Design Change3 Comments

Musk will remove headlines that are automatically generated as part of the preview image and text that appeasr when news organisations share articles to X. Anyone sharing a link on X—from individual users to publishers—would need to manually add their own text alongside the links they share on the service; otherwise the post will display only an image with no context other than an overlay of the URL. According to a source, the change is being pushed directly by Musk, to reduce the height of tweets and allow more posts to fit on screen. Musk also believes the change will help curb clickbait. Musk:

This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.

20 Aug, 2023

Musk: ‘How does the medicine taste?’

Makes Statement1 Comments

Musk mocks users on X for complaining about plans to remove the platform’s “block” feature (which he announced in response to an account questioning its utility), asking how “the medicine” tastes and saying that he is using the feature while it still exists to ignore users who want it to stay.

Pretty fun blocking people who complain that blocking is going away. How does the medicine taste?

Musk blocks Woods after actor complains about block feature removal

Makes StatementSocial media ban1 Comments

Musk blocks Woods following his comments on the X CEO’s plans to remove the block feature from Twitter.

If @elonmusk removes the ability to block concerted harassment by trolls or organized political entities, how will “X” be any different from Jack Dorsey’s horrid Twitter? Musk, whom I once championed, is only doing this to protect his advertisers anyway. Users of X are mere pawns to turn the site into an electronic shopping mall. The man I thought was a defender of free speech is just another greedy capitalist. Disappointing, but not surprising.

To which Musk responds:

Then delete your account

Woods then posts a screenshot showing that Musk has blocked him:

Your prerogative, sir, which is exactly my point. Have a nice day.

19 Aug, 2023

Musk: X may fail

Makes Statement2 Comments

Musk says that X may fail:

The sad truth is that there are no great ‘social networks’ right now. We may fail, as so many have predicted, but we will try our best to make there be at least one.

18 Aug, 2023

Musk says he will ‘delete’ X’s block feature

Announcement0 Comments

In response to a post asking if ‘there is ever a reason to block vs. mute someone,’ Musk says that he will delete the block feature from the app, except for DMs.

Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs. It makes no sense.

Later, a community note is added to Musk’s post, saying that the block feature cannot be removed as it is a required feature for social media apps sold on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

11 Aug, 2023

Twitter signs and equipment to be auctioned

FundraisingMakes Statement0 Comments

In part due to its rebrand, X announces it is auctioning off a large number of Twitter-branded items, including the bird logo that was previously on the outside of the building. Other items for sale include sculptures, booths, chairs, computers, couches, musical equipment and artworks.

The auction, hosted by Heritage Global Partners, will start on September 12 at 7 a.m. PST and end on September 14 at 9 a.m. PST. All items have a starting bid of $25. They are all being sold out of X headquarters in San Francisco. According to HGP’s terms and conditions, buyers must use the items in their businesses and cannot purchase them for personal use.

6 Aug, 2023

Musk: Fight with ‘Zuck’ to be streamed on X

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk says that his fight with Zuckerberg will be streamed on X. He tweets:

Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on 𝕏. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.

Musk: X will never launch crypto coin

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk says that Twitter/X will never launch a crypto coin. In a tweet, user @DogeDesigner stated:

Elon Musk and 𝕏 never launched a crypto token

to which Musk replied:

And we never will.

5 Aug, 2023

Musk: X will pay ‘unfairly’ treated users’ legal bills

Makes Statement0 Comments

Musk says that if any X (formerly Twitter) users are treated unfairly by their employers for posting or liking something on the platform, X will pay their legal bills and even sue on their behalf. Financial assistance from X will have no limit, he says, and asks that users “let us know” if they have experienced unfair treatment for their activity on the site.

X takes @music handle from user

Design Change0 Comments

X takes@music” handle from a user who ran the account for 16 years and will be using it for its own business purposes. The company sent him an email stating that they will change the name to @musicfan.

16 years ago, I created @music and have been running it ever since. Just now, Twitter / X just ripped it away. Super pissed

2 Aug, 2023

X lets subscribers hide blue ticks

Design Change1 Comments

X adds a feature that allows paid subscribers to hide their verification badge from other users.

As a subscriber, you can choose to hide your checkmark on your account. The checkmark will be hidden on your profile and posts. The checkmark may still appear in some places and some features could still reveal you have an active subscription. Some features may not be available while your checkmark is hidden. We will continue to evolve this feature to make it better for you.

1 Aug, 2023

X sign removed from headquarter’s roof

Rebrand0 Comments

The X sign on the former Twitter headquarters building’s roof is removed, after complaints were made to San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection. One complaint described the sign as displaying “extremely intense white stroboscopic light” that was “causing distress and nausea,” while others said it could topple in an earthquake. After earlier attempts to inspect the sign had been rebuffed by X staff, inspectors once again returned to the site, only to see the sign being dismanted. Inspector:

By the time I left the entire structure had been removed.

The city says that X would be assessed fees for the unpermitted installation of the illuminated structure, without mentioning an estimate.

Musk accuses South African party of pushing for white genocide

Makes Statement0 Comments

In response to footage of a football stadium of Economic Freedom Fighters Party loyalists singing “Kill the Boer,” Musk accuses the party of pushing for genocide of white people, tagging President Ramaphosa for a response:

They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa. @CyrilRamaphosa, why do you say nothing?

30 Jul, 2023

Musk lifts West’s X block after anti-semitic assurances

Social media ban0 Comments

After assurances that he will not post anti-semitic or harmful content, Musk reinstates West’s account on X (formerly Twitter), almost eight months after Musk banned him from Twitter after West posted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David to Twitter.

29 Jul, 2023

San Francisco investigates non-permitted X roof sign

Opens investigation0 Comments

The city of San Francisco Departement of Building Inspection opens an investigation into X headquarters, after it receives a complain about a giant flashing X that has been installed on the roof of the building without a permit. This comes after issues with the removal of the Twitter sign on the front of the building. The complaint noted that a city inspector was denied access to the building’s roof, where the X had been installed, with the company saying that the structure was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.” City spokesperson:

A building permit is required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely. Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation.