What’s up with X?

No matter how weird it feels to say X instead of Twitter and post instead of tweet, Twitter is dead and X is here. And we’re here to help you figure out what that means for the world of social media, social media posts and your social media strategies.

In July 2023, Elon Musk said “goodbye” to the recognizable blue bird and renamed the social platform X. Along with the rebranding came announcements that X would move into payments, banking and commerce, with Musk noting his takeover of the platform was “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.”

With these announcements came shock among social media professionals everywhere. The future of the platform was unknown — would users continue using this X? Will another platform become more popular? What does this mean for other social networks and how people use social media channels?

Months after this shocking announcement, we’ve learned a lot about what X looks like and how users are reacting to it. While we don’t have all the answers, there have been a lot of takeaways and clear impacts on social media strategies.

Let’s dive into the Bospar team’s observations and recommendations.

Changes to the platform

There are a couple of obvious updates to the platform that you might see before you even open the app. The blue and white bird icon is gone, replaced by a black and white X logo. But within the platform, much of it remains the same visually.

Beyond the visuals, X has introduced updates to users’ privacy, including a plan to collect biometric data under its new policy, stating the platform “may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes.” Some speculate this decision will help enable passwordless sign-ins in the future.

The incentive for a paid subscription is growing, with X Premium (which is offered at Basic, Premium and Premium+ tiers for different costs) enabling a whole slew of features. Most notably, with the subscription, users can edit posts, share copy up to 25,000 characters, upload videos up to three hours and prioritize rankings in replies.

Separate from the above subscription tiers is the Verification for Organizations package. At $1,000 a month, businesses get access to exclusive features like X Hiring Beta. The new job-hiring feature is poised to take on the dominance of LinkedIn in the professional networking and job search arena.

Another major change on X is the end of its oldest ad format — the classic follower ad. X no longer offers the Follower Objective ad format, meaning there is no way to put spend behind followers anymore. X representatives note that the change came “as part of a larger effort to optimize the X experience by prioritizing content formats.”

Impacts on your B2B social strategy

Elon Musk and friends continue to roll out changes on X seemingly weekly – with new features being added, old formats removed and capabilities changed. The biggest impact on your B2B strategy? The potential for things to rapidly change.

As of now, most businesses remain active on X, including everyone from small businesses to big-name tech companies. When it comes to quick, short-form content, X is still the place to go. Businesses, analysts, influencers, media outlets, etc. are still active and consistent with publishing habits.

While platforms like Threads and Mastodon brought loud chatter around the relevance of X, the stability and popularity of those social networks remains to be seen. Some companies have been active on these platforms, but many that prioritized Twitter/X have not left it behind.

It’s impossible to predict what kinds of platform changes may impact your social media marketing strategy in the future, but one thing is for sure: There are more changes and updates to X coming.

Our recommendations

The best way to handle the ever-evolving world of social media is to be informed. Do your research, read helpful articles, follow useful pages and look into platform updates regularly.

Try starting off your day with 10 minutes of research on the social media landscape so you’re aware of any noteworthy updates. There’s something to note almost every day!

Seek help from the experts! If keeping a finger on the pulse of all things social media is too much, leave it to us. Our social media team will do the heavy lifting and keep you apprised of the most important changes and how they impact your business and strategy.

Get in touch with us if you’re looking to learn more — we’re always happy to chat social!