Musk says Twitter to change logo to 'X' from the bird. Changes could come as early as Monday
New York (AP): Elon Musk said Sunday that he plans to change the logo of Twitter to an "X" from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for
44 billion last year.
In a series of posts on his Twitter account starting just after 12 a.m. ET, Twitter's owner said that he's looking to make the change worldwide as soon as Monday.
"And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk wrote on his account.
The change isn't surprising given Musk's long history with the name "X," says Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. The billionaire Tesla CEO tweeted last October that "buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app."
Musk's rocket company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is commonly known as SpaceX. And in 1999, Musk founded a startup called X.com, an online financial services company now known as PayPal.
"Not sure what subtle clues gave it way, but I like the letter X," Musk tweeted Sunday.
Hours later on Sunday, Linda Yaccarino, the longtime NBC Universal executive Musk appointed as Twitter CEO in May, weighed in on the move.
"It's an exceptionally rare thing in life or in business that you get a second chance to make another big impression," she wrote on her Twitter account. "Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square."
Yaccarino wrote on Twitter that X would be "the future state of unlimited interactivity centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities."
But the change on Twitter was met with skepticism on the social media platform.
The change will be very confusing to a huge chunk of the Twitter's audience, which has been already souring on the social platform given a slew of other major changes Musk has made, Adamson said.
"They won't get it," he said. "It's a fitting end to a phenomenal unwinding of an iconic brand and business."
Earlier this month, Musk put new curfews on his digital town square, a move that met with sharp criticism it could drive away more advertisers and undermine its cultural influence as a trendsetter.
The higher tweet-viewing threshold is part of an 8-per-month subscription service that Musk rolled out earlier this year in an attempt to boost Twitter revenue. Revenue has dropped sharply since Musk took over the company and laid off roughly three-fourths of the workforce to slash costs and avoid bankruptcy.
Luring advertisers is essential for Musk and Twitter after many fled in the early months after his takeover of the social media platform, fearing damage to their brands in the enveloping chaos. Advertisers have cut back on spending partly because of changes Musk has made that has allowed for more hateful content to flourish and that has offended a wider part of the platform's audience.
Musk said in late April that advertisers had returned, but provided no specifics.
Musk's move to change Twitter's logo to an "X" also comes as Twitter faces new competition from Meta's new app, Threads, launched earlier this month. It has been seen as an alternative for those who have been upset with Twitter.
Threads is being billed as a text-based version of Meta's photo-sharing app Instagram that the company has said offers "a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations."
In the first five days of its launch, 100 million people had signed up for Threads, according to a post on Threads by Instagram head Adam Mosseri.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
