Elon Musk Explores Transforming X into a Dating App

One year ago, Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter, and the social media platform officially rebranded as "X" in July. Now, further changes are in progress for the platform. Musk reportedly marked the anniversary of his acquisition of the social media platform by informing his employees in a video call that he intends to introduce a dating component to the app in 2024.

Business Insider reports that specific details about how this dating feature will function remain undisclosed. During the same call, Musk also expressed his ambition to transform X into a fully functional digital banking tool. This would transform the social media platform into an "everything app."

The platform has also faced substantial criticism for relaxing content guidelines and allegations of promoting false information. Musk has expressed his desire to transform the platform into "an arena of free speech." Time reported that following Musk's acquisition of Twitter, a series of content policy changes has been associated with an increase in posts containing offensive, aggressive, and inaccurate content on the platform.

In the past month, Elon Musk issued a warning of a potential lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. He is alleging defamation, as reported by CNN. Musk contended that the nonprofit organization's remarks regarding the increase in hate speech on the social media platform had negatively impacted X's advertising earnings.

As a result of these developments, advertisers departed, causing the platform to lose over half of its overall value. The decision to depart from the Twitter brand might have erased as much as $20 billion in value, according to Forbes. Musk attributed the decline in advertising revenue to "activist groups pressuring advertisers."

Musk has introduced new features to increase revenue, including the launch of subscription tiers. X Premium includes three tiers which are Basic, Premium, and Premium+. They each offer an array of additional features. All features associated with each X Premium tier will be accessible right away. Except for the blue verification checkmark according to X. This checkmark will be granted to eligible profiles subscribed to the Premium or Premium+ tiers. This would be after a review to ensure that subscribed accounts meet all the necessary eligibility criteria. Other features include the ability to edit tweets, longer post lengths, improved video uploads, encrypted direct messaging, and other features. The "Basic" plan, however, does not offer a path to verification through payment and excludes the blue checkmark.

The app is considering the integration of game streaming and live shopping features as it strives to expand its range. Hoping to become a more versatile app.

On Sunday, Twitter's blue bird symbol began to disappear as the company rebranded and adopted a new identity: the company will simply be known as X.

This transformation is the most recent modification overseen by billionaire owner Elon Musk, who resigned as CEO a month ago but continues to hold a significant position in the company.

A few hours after the rebrand, Musk made subtle references to the change among his other posts and replies on Twitter. He tweeted phrases like "Deus X" and responded to other users discussing the topic. During a Twitter Spaces session titled "No one talk until we summon Elon Musk," he remained silent for nearly an hour before unmuting himself to confirm that Twitter's logo would be changed the following day, humorously mentioning, "We're cutting the Twitter logo from the building with blowtorches."

CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed on Sunday that X is committed to leveraging AI to expand the platform's features. Alongside the logo update, X has ambitious plans to venture into online banking, video messaging, and other related fields.

"For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential. X will do that and more," tweeted Yaccarino.

As of now, X represents the reimagined version of Twitter, but the company announced on Sunday its intentions to become a one-stop destination for various online requirements of its users. Last year, the idea was expressed by Musk a few days after acquiring Twitter in October. "Purchasing Twitter will accelerate the creation of X, the all-encompassing app," Musk tweeted.

Here are three things to know about Twitter's rebrand to X

Regarding the new logo's appearance, Musk showcased a GIF provided by Sawyer Merritt, a Twitter user who offered the logo initially used for his now-discontinued podcast. Musk later revealed that he would opt for a "minimalist art deco" logo but might make further adjustments to enhance it. Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino also shared the logo, expressing excitement with the statement "X is here! Let's do this." The logo is now being used as Musk's profile picture.

For over two decades, the letter "X" has been an integral part of Musk's ventures. X.com was the initial name for Paypal, while it features prominently in SpaceX, the Tesla SUV model, X.Ai, and even his child's name, X Æ A-12. Musk has previously expressed his vision to transform Twitter into "X, the everything app." Finally, he is taking action with the X.com domain he reacquired from Paypal in 2017.

Last month, Yaccarino stepped up as CEO, standing right beside Musk, who's still the big boss as executive chairman and chief tech officer. He's also the CEO of SpaceX. But things haven't been going so smoothly for the company. Musk tweeted that they've lost 50% of their ad revenue, and the cash flow isn't looking great either. The problem is Twitter used to make most of its money from ads, but lots of big companies pulled out because of reports involving explicit and hateful content going around the platform.