this is how you imagine a western WeChat

It’s official, Twitter is no longer Twitter. Elon Musk announced that The social network changes its name and design to give it a new direction. Now its name is X —you can already see the new logo by accessing the platform from Europe—, and it wants to go much further, emulating the model followed by some platforms in China, such as WeChat or QQ, which offer a variety of total connection to all the services that a user may need on the Internet.

“X will establish itself as a platform focused on audio, video, messaging and payments. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), X will connect us all in ways we are only just beginning to imagine,” explained platform CEO Linda Yaccarino; who also said they were taking advice from those who encourage Twitter “to dream bigger, innovate faster, and reach our great potential.”

The most obvious change is the elimination of Larry, which was the name of the classic bird logo —in honor of Larry Bird—, and was replaced by the letter that gives it its name. The next step will be to distance itself as a brand to make room for all the new things Musk wants to see in the new app, all powered by artificial intelligence from his other newly created company, xAI.

The tycoon’s ambition is for X to be on one platform for everything. The place that has gone from the public square of the Internet, where the conversation flowed, to a space where you can find shops, services, news or money transfers. A way to compete with other platforms such as PayPal, Google News or Google Maps from one place.

Like WeChat

Musk has already changed his profile picture and told his employees in an email that this will be the last communication they will receive from the Twitter.com domain. The process of changes that the social network is experiencing will be prolongedand now they are likely to be more numerous and visible than before.

The objective is to widen the range of possibilities offered to its users, looking for a versatile platform similar to WeChat. This Chinese application is characterized by a large number of integrated services in the Asian country. So much so that if you travel there it becomes unavoidable. It ranges from owning your own Google Maps or WhatsApp to transferring files, video calling, sending money or e-commerce where there are official stores for brands like Nike or Apple.

WeChat services

FDI China

The free Android

One of the most interesting points of this equation is the control of payments between individuals. Elon Musk made internet history for founder of PayPal which was originally X.com, a domain now owned by Twitter. With which it does not seem that the coincidence is fortuitous. WeChat has its own built-in Bizum for making payments to individuals and institutions. Besides works as a contactless payment method with dataphones

just like Samsung Wallet or Google Wallet, although facing this competition in the West will not be a matter of days for X.

WeChat has circumvented bans in several countries around the world, and its handling of data is not without controversy. This benefits Musk’s app, as it can try to succeed where the Chinese company has struggled. That’s why a drastic change in aesthetics can help users stop thinking of X as just a social network.

In any case, ambition is synonymous with Musk and Yaccarino, he stressed that “there is absolutely no limit to this transformation”. Even so, it is assumed that they will go step by step when adding functions, as they expect. keep the social essencebut expanding its capabilities.

total transformation

The future of X happens to be a common point for interact with other users and companies in different ways, as well as access services for which normally another application is needed. Artificial intelligence will play an important role, perhaps in the form of an assistant, or via a more comprehensive algorithm capable of recommending different dimensions of content. Note that this same month the creation of a new company called xAI which will be dedicated to the development of AI systems was announced.

Twitter is now X

The free Android

The ultimate goal of an application like this is to replace other applications by integrating the functions it offers. Maps could be another section of the platform’s service catalog, along with games. Google Play is no longer the only payment gateway where you can buy through Android, which would allow X to have another source of income in the form of commissions. Other social networks like Instagram or Facebook already have an independent section that works like a shop.

It is not excluded that it integrates a section dedicated exclusively to video, since with the arrival of the Blue subscription, the duration limit for these has been extended to 2 hours and 8 GB in weight. One of its latest updates also opened up space for videos.

In any case, Musk’s plan is as ambitious as it is risky. There is a Spanish proverb that he who covers a lot does not squeeze much and the tycoon can experience it first hand. Twitter, now X, can stop being the reference for conversation on the Internet, ceding the throne to other alternatives such as forums or newly created applications such as Instagram Threads, to try to be something that has never been.

In case you get it would forever change the landscape of the Internet, that a single company has a 360 service for the user on a single centralized platform, which would have in a single application everything that Google, Netflix, PayPal, Microsoft or Facebook now offer separately.