TWITTER REBRANDS TO X HANDLE

The internet is abuzz as the app formerly known as Twitter announced a name change over the weekend. X.com now redirects to Twitter.com, although the social media platform still invites users to "tweet."

The rebrand is another step in the ongoing transformation of Twitter, an online watering hole for hyper-connected people that aspires to become an app that can do "everything," according to CEO Linda Yaccarino.

Twitter's rebranding to X has not been faring well. In addition to the haphazard rollout, which saw parts of the site referencing "X" while other parts still implored you to "search Twitter" or push a blue button to "Tweet," the company also didn't secure the intellectual property rights to the X brand, Reuters reported. Plus, Twitter didn't get a permit to take down the Twitter sign from its San Francisco headquarters, requiring police intervention to stop the work. And, as TechCrunch discovered, the company didn't even make an attempt to secure the @x Twitter handle, owned by Gene X Hwang of the corporate photography and videography studio Orange Photography.

The @x account is currently set to private, but is referenced by the San Francisco-based @orangephoto account, which credits its founders by their Twitter handles "@x & @jackhuynh," or Gene X Hwang and Jack Huynh, respectively.