tumblr @lemmy.world

1y ago

I understand not only the what, but the why

120 comments

For the same reason I still called Alphabet - Google, and Meta - Facebook. I refuse to let large corporations just try and shake off their shitty past with a name change.
- Adding Xfinity - Comcast to this list
  
  See also:
  Constellis Holdings, née Academi, née Xe Services, née Blackwater (mercenary group owned by right-wing politicians)
  Altria, née Philip Morris (tobacco manufacturer)
  CoreCivic, née Corrections Corporation of America (private prison operator)
  Chiquita, née United Fruit Company and Cuyamel Fruit Company (overthrew the government of Honduras, among other things)
  
  Charter did the same thing with Spectrum.
- I honestly think ‘X’ has more stink on it than ‘Twitter’ which is why I’ve been happy to start referring to it as ‘X’.
  I don’t think continuing to call it ‘Twitter’ hurts Elon one bit.
- Didn't the Alphabet rebranding happen because boomer investors were confused about which Google stock to invest in?
  
  Theirs actually made a bit more sense. They didn't try to actually get people to use the new name, because it was a business restructure, not a "brand" restructure.
  For business management purposes, it didn't make sense for a search engine company to do things like "own a car company". So they split the business units up and made things a little more organized. They ran into some name issues because the most recognizable face of the company is so strongly associated with search, and they didn't want to mess with that, so they made a new name for the top.
  Companies do stuff like that all the time, but it usually doesn't raise to public attention because it doesn't happen to major brands, or hit the top level of the business.
  They still label all their stuff Google, and their stock ticker is still googl.
  
  Which Google stocks are there?

That site is as dead as Reddit to me now. I don't care whatever it's called
- Yeah people don't realise what shithole these two have become
  
  Twitter has been a shithole since it’s inception.
  Reddit only became a shithole like five or six years ago.

I'm just sick of every article in existence calling it "X formally known as Twitter" like what's the point, just either say X or say twitter it's filler bullshit to extend the article.
- It probably helps searchability, since now there is a fracture of people looking up 'X news' and 'Twitter news'
- "Twitter, also known by some as X"
  
  This is the way.
- I see that as a kind of professional fu to Elon. As in "We know we need to call it X now, but since nobody actually does that, we'll also add the actual name".
  
  indeed. i like to believe he hates when we do that

Calling it "X" is anything but professional.

"Xitter". It pronounces almost like "Shitter".
- No almost about it. It's Shitter and that's final.
  
  This is the way.
- "X" letter is pronounced as "shh" sound in China for example Liu Cixin, the Chinese author of Three Body Problem, his last name supposed to be spelled "Cishin". So there is precedent.
  
  I call it excrement.

The name is "X, formerly known as twitter"
Thats it. Thats the whole name.
- The Website Formerly Known As Twitter.

It is always correct to Dead Name corporations.
It's also correct to Deadname Super Villains who think "Eggman" is somehow more intimidating than "Robotnik"

I'm partial to Xitter

I wonder if they’ll roll back the name change at some point, seems almost inevitable if Elon ever sells it.
Personally I don’t think I’ll ever call it X, not even out of dislike for Elon, just because it will always be stuck in my head as Twitter.

My Aussie friend calls it 'a platform from a cunt for a bunch of cunts'. I think I'll go with that.
- Ah yeah, that one's getting around and it's right on point.

I'm always shocked to see Tumblr talking about current events because I forget there's people still there
- I mean gestures broadly at our own tiny userbase
  
  Yeah but I can still see butt sex here
- Look at mr. Lemmy talking down a way bigger service as if Lemmy is more relevant outside of their little bubble.
  
  Yeah but we're cooler.
  
  Lol I never said this website is bigger

Oh no. Imagine having to talk about twitter in a professional setting. Those poor bastards.
- Why had to update all the share icons at work because of Muskrat. I argued for leaving them as the bird, but I was overridden. Nobody has fond feelings about the site anymore. Every time it is brought up everyone's reaction is "ugh, that site..."

I call it "X, formerly Twitter"
- "X | The website formerly known as Twitter"
  Or "TWFKAT"
  Or "The Website"

I really don't have a passionate stance about it, I just know I called it Twitter for ages, X is shitty branding and isn't going to work, and I stopped using the platform well before Musk took over, so I'm not doing any sort of mental labor trying to make myself use the crap name he chose.
It's a dead website to me, and it's everyone else's problem that they trapped themselves on Twitter, having no career without it. I'm not doing a single thing on behalf of anybody who is still there, those are ghosts, let them howl in the attic, I don't work here.
It's not a human person. It's a website full of assholes. I would make an effort for a transitioning person, but not for Elon Musk and his ham-fisted stupidity, for the folly of some wealthy prick.
It's Twitter until I forget what it's called.

I call it X(уйня)

Shitter, clearly the only acceptable name.
Won't even use it for porn now.

X is too short and generic. It is literally just a letter.

“Xwitter”
The X is like a fallen over t. Like twitter, falling apart.
- I liked what one person said I forget where I saw it of calling it Xitter and pronouncing it like Shitter.
  
  That’s pretty good. I might steal that.

The convention for websites is generally "name" dot com or "name" dot org. If you want to change the name, change the website name.
Until we start going to x.com instead, I'm going to talk about twitter(.com)
- I'm actually surprised x.com redirects to Twitter. Thought for sure that'd be a porn thing.

- I am not calling it "Twitter, formerly known as Prince"

I try not to refer to it at all, but when I have to refer to it at work I call it "uuggh, that xitter site".

I started typing xxx and found new sites I enjoy more.
- Lot of birds on those as well

How about "I just change the subject whenever that irrelevant we site is brought up"

As long as Elon dead names his child (and supports dead naming), I'm dead naming that dumpster fire Twitter.

Missing an option - "I'm combining the two names into a weird abomination that no one likes but that's what that platform deserves nowadays"
- Xitter, pronounced shitter.

Epic rebranding fail.

In professional settings, I still call it Twitter because my customers doesnt know or understand the name change

Twatter
- Have you seen any good twats lately?

People talk about Twitter?

Shouldn't renaming a social media really be up to the users? Shouldn't twitter users vote on that?
We just conceded that social media are owned by some corporate entity but the only values is in the users themselves. They build it. They should "own" and control the social media democratically, it should be accountable to them. It seems much more obvious than with traditional media that these should be democratic institutions.
Elon Musk behaving so blatantly stupid is unusual but the problem is really much larger.
- No.
  Users shouldn't have any say over how a social media company is run -- there would be utter chaos.
  Take Twitter for example -- I would imagine there are 33% liberals, 33% conservatives, 5% neo-nazis, 5% neo-communists and 24% who don't give a crap about politics because they are bots from China.
  (I am just using these figures for an example -- I have no idea about real figures).
  So if you need a new name then there would be a huge fight to call it any number of things, none of which relate to a corporate brand.
  And if you ask them about corporate policies? "Censorship"? "Should we allow free speech?" "Should we allow hate speech?" "What is hate speech?"
  Can you imagine the chaos?
  No. Social media should not be run by its users. It is just asking for it to implode within a day.
  
  RIP democracy

I am still waiting for a well-known media to call it "the website commonly known as Xitter", instead of "the website formerly known as Twitter".

The owner wants it to be called "X", it is disrespectful to call it anything else. It is a happy coincidence that all name recognition is gone.
- https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musks-new-twitter-pronoun-rule-invites-bullying-lgbtq-groups-say-rcna87336
  Musk believes people are free to ignore what people want to be called. So I think that we are free to ignore what he wants Twitter to be called.
- Great, I want to be disrespectful to msuk the twitter destroyer.
  He can spend all his money on ads for rebranding it to xshitter.
- If you want to talk about respect, let's talk about Elon's disrespect to everyone who used Twitter or talks about it now. I noted elsewhere in the discussion that the convention for websites is "name" .com or .org
  Google (.com) Twitter (.com) Wikipedia (.org)
  etc.
  Breaking that mold to be "edgy" doesn't make one clever, it just causes confusion and wastes people's time.
  In this case, it's wasted a lot of time because of how high-profile it is.
  Side note - I'm also in MN. WDYT about the lake in Minneapolis that they renamed a few years back? It seems like there might be some parallels, but I don't think it's a good example for a worldwide audience. I only bring it up because of your username.
  
  To the first part of your reply. I understand that Elon changed the name of both the company and the website, with a redirect of the former website. Is that not the case?
  I am surprised how much time I am spending on the twitter/X thing.
  As for the lake, I didn't have an issue with it. The local community, that has naming rights, decided to change the name to better reflect their community and values. The new name is not mean or disrespectful. Maps will take a bit to update, but the lake name won't be the only thing to change.
  If you respond, what do you think of the flag?
  Edit: I tested and X.com redirects to Twitter.com. So that is stupid.
- Ownership doesn't give you some moral right to rename something. Especially ownership of a public platform
  It probably gives you the legal right... That's it.
  Maybe it's disrespectful, but I'd strongly argue the opposite - it might be a husk of its former self, but Twitter is an impressive technical feat. They did a lot of good in pushing the limits of technology, and modern programmers stand on their shoulders.
  A drunk man-child changed its name late one night, with no respect for what he's destroying or even the slightest consideration of how to actually do it
  I've never liked Twitter itself, but I think the creators deserve respect for advancing computer science
  
  Thank you for your perspective. I had not considered that some would think of Twitter as something special and valuable. While Twitter has created some neat ideas, I see them as the "also ran that win due to huge amounts of cash". No morals involved.
  The community that grew around Twitter was special, but temporary. Just like to communities before and after it.
  Cheers

120 comments