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Twitter Rebrands as X

Published

5 months ago

July 24, 2023

Twitter has officially changed its name to X, joining SpaceX in the “X”-based branding scheme Elon Musk appears fond of (he wanted PayPal to be X branded back in the day, too). The blue bird is gone, and tweets are now x’s, according to Musk.

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk said late Saturday night, followed up by a Monday post showing the site’s new X logo projected onto Twitter (now X) headquarters.

“Everyone should be proud of the pace of innovation over the last nine months — from long-form content, to creator monetization, and tremendous advancements in brand safety protections,” said X CEO Linda Yaccarino in an internal note seen by TheWrap. “Our usage is at an all time high and we’ll continue to delight our entire community with new experiences in audio, video, messaging, payments, banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

She went on to say X employees were writing history and that she and Musk would be working to bring X to the world.

Users have expressed a range of emotions in reaction to the change, with one popular sentiment being confusion over why Twitter would rebrand to something that turns “Twitter videos” into “X videos,” otherwise known as XVideos, the popular porn site. As a result, #XVideos is trending and a lot of the “celebratory” Twitter-is-now-X posts are not safe for work (and will not be embedded here). Even in Musk’s own posting threads, people are making the connection.

To note: The letter X’s association with porn is nothing new, nor is Musk’s disregard for the letter’s link to adult films. As stated by author Max Chafkin, Musk has historically ignored the results of focus tests indicating that the “X” name reminds people of porn.

Another user compared Elon Musk’s rebranding aesthetic to an imitation of the X logo used for LexCorp, the corporation run by DC comics antagonist Lex Luthor. “Blud thinks he’s lex luthor,” the user said, capping off his joke with a skull emoji.

“It’s interesting that even though you had this idea for a very long time, you never made a good logo for it,” another user said of Musk’s logo display.

Some people were content to leave their personal opinions out and simply meme on the inherent risks associated with a bold rebrand.

Others posted memes hinting at the idea that perhaps this rebrand would steal back the limelight from Threads, the Meta-backed, X-like app that recently enjoyed an explosive launch with tens of millions of signups within its first days of availability.

Other users jabbed X for not properly rebranding everything upon launching the change, leaving items such as the “tweet” button intact despite the rest of the site transitioning to the new X theme.

Some users politely voiced their preference for the bird logo and asked that Musk reverse course.

For her part, X’s CEO publicly expressed enthusiasm over the rebranding, saying it was another chance for the site to make a “big impression.”

“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” Yaccarino said in a series of x’s, saying X will be the platform that can deliver “everything.”

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TikTok announces $1.5 bn deal to restart Indonesia online shopping business

Published

1 hour ago

December 11, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

TikTok has around a billion montly users and its growth among young people far outstrips its competitors – Copyright AFP/File SEBASTIEN BOZON

Chinese-owned short video app TikTok on Monday announced a $1.5 billion investment in GoTo group in a deal that would allow it to restart its online shop in Indonesia, the companies said in a statement.

Under the deal, TikTok Shop will be merged into GoTo’s Tokopedia, and TikTok will have a controlling stake in that entity.

“TikTok has committed to invest over US$1.5 billion in the enlarged entity over time, to provide future funding required by the business, without additional dilution to GoTo,” the Indonesian firm said.

“TikTok, Tokopedia and GoTo will transform Indonesia’s e-commerce sector, creating millions of new job opportunities over the next five years.”

“The strategic partnership will commence with a pilot period carried out in close consultation with and supervision by the relevant regulators,” GoTo said, adding that it expected the deal to close in 2024.

TikTok in October shut down its online shop in Indonesia, one of its biggest markets.

That came days after Southeast Asia’s largest economy banned sales on social media to protect millions of small businesses.

The regulation means social media firms cannot conduct direct transactions but only promote products on their platforms in Indonesia, the first country in the region to act against TikTok’s growing popularity as an e-commerce site.

Indonesia’s e-commerce market is dominated by platforms such as Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada but TikTok Shop gained a significant market share since launching in 2021.

Indonesia, with 125 million users, is TikTok’s second-largest global market after the United States, according to company figures.

The Indonesian ban came after calls grew for regulation governing social media and e-commerce, with offline sellers seeing their livelihoods threatened by the sale of cheaper products on TikTok Shop and other platforms.

The regulation was yet another setback for TikTok, which has faced intense scrutiny in the United States and other nations in recent months over users’ data security and the company’s alleged ties to the Chinese government.

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TikTok spends $1.5B on Tokopedia JV to get around Jakarta social e-commerce ban

Published

8 hours ago

December 11, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

TikTok spends $1.5B on Tokopedia JV to get around Jakarta social e-commerce ban

Just two months ago, ByteDance-owned TikTok abruptly closed its shopping platform in Indonesia to comply with surprise regulations from the Southeast Asian country’s government. Jakarta ordered social media companies like TikTok and Facebook to stop selling goods on their platforms, demanding a separation of social media and e-commerce services.

TikTok now seems to have found a way to revive its e-commerce dreams in Indonesia by spending billions to start a joint venture with Indonesian tech giant GoTo. On Monday, the two companies announced that TikTok Shop will now be available on GoTo’s Tokopedia platform.

“Tokopedia and TikTok Shop Indonesia’s businesses will be combined under the existing PT Tokopedia entity in which TikTok will take a controlling stake. The shopping features within the TikTok app in Indonesia will be operated and maintained by the enlarged entity,” TikTok said in a statement Monday.

TikTok will invest over $1.5 billion into Tokopedia, taking a 75% stake in the platform. GoTo will remain an ecosystem partner to Tokopedia and receive an “ongoing revenue stream from Tokopedia commensurate with its scale and growth,” but will not be required to continue funding the platform. Further funding from TikTok also won’t reduce GoTo’s remaining 25% stake.

Getting back into the Indonesian ecommerce market will be a win for TikTok. Indonesia, which is the platform’s largest market outside of the U.S., is key to Tiktok’s online shopping aspirations. In June, CEO Shou Zi Chew pledged to “invest billions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia over the next few years.”

ByteDance wants to replicate its Chinese e-commerce successaround the globe. Last year, consumers spent in China 1.41 trillion yuan ($196 billion) on products sold on Douyin, the version of TikTok for the Chinese market, The Information reported in January. ByteDance, through TikTok, is expanding its online shopping services in both Southeast Asia and the U.S. Yet the company is struggling to win over American consumers: The Information reported in August that U.S. shoppers are spending just $4 million a day, equivalent to $1.4 billion over a whole year, on goods sold on the social media platform. (TikTok officially launched TikTok Shop in the U.S. in September, though sellers have complained about a flood of low-quality products on the platform).

Before Indonesia imposed its ban in September, the country’s president, Joko Widodo, complained that social media platforms were threatening local micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises. Government officials also accused TikTok of engaging in predatory pricing.

GoTo’s deal with TikTok means the Indonesian tech giant is giving up its majority ownership of Tokopedia . Tokopedia started in 2008 and grew to be one of Indonesia’s largest e-commerce platforms. The company merged with ride-hailing startup GoJek in 2021, becoming GoTo Group. The company debuted on Jakarta’s stock exchange in April last year.

Yet the company has struggled to wow investors since then. GoTo has yet to make a profit since becoming a public company. The tech firm reported 2.4 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($147 million) in net losses last quarter, significantly less than the 6.7 trillion rupiah ($428 million) it lost this time last year.

Investors do not appear to be thrilled by the news of GoTo’s TikTok partnership. Shares fell by over 19% by 2:30pm Indonesia time on Monday, erasing gains made late last week as rumors began to build of the new partnership.

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How to Train ChatGPT to Write in Your Brand’s Tone of Voice [Infographic]

Published

14 hours ago

December 11, 2023

Entireweb News Bot

Are you looking for ways to improve your ChatGPT output? Want to train it to write in a more unique tone of voice, in order to better suit your branding?

The Creative Marketer shares his ChatGPT prompt tips in this infographic. To enact these, add “Write like [INSERT CHARACTER]” at the start of your ChatGPT instructions.

TCM breaks things down into the following categories: