# How long before journalists quit referring to: "formerly known as Twitter" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442 "2023-11-20T20:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/21 "2023-11-21T10:09:27Z")
And Dick Sargent? Nope, still the same. Turn it off! Turn it off! I think we should respect the owner(s) of X and respect its due as a company. And, actually, no, I’m not kidding. “Twitter” was a company that some people used, and now it is not. X is the new company. It’s not like I’m going to go ride around in my new Edsel or relax with a healthful Chesterfield while enjoying the view of my gleaming Frigidaire. Twitter isn’t the king of France…it’s dead! Long live X. Or whatever. (OK, edit for link to my “original” reference to Scott’s “turn it off”: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=879Vnr4vojI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=879Vnr4vojI)) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/22 "2023-11-21T10:23:43Z")
I plan to continue to call it twitter. That’s all. Elon Musk can go fuck himself. ---
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/23 "2023-11-21T10:27:30Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Elon Musk can go fuck himself. He certainly can and does so like a patient under the care of Nurse Ratched, and I’m sure he plays cards daily with Mac and Cheswick. Here’s a rare “hot take” from me: I don’t think that fucker _deserves_ to use the name Twitter. He bought it, and he renamed it. But he didn’t buy the people who cling to its legacy platform. Right or wrong, it’s still a “name,” but perhaps that name should change. /\* edit: Is it Denali or Mt. McKinley? Which twin has the tony? Who knows. It’s very difficult to tell. Maybe both twins have the tony. That kid has both his arms in traction he beats everybody in the room. So I’ll offer it to you again: is the name worth that much? See, this time, everyone should say “No.” \*/ ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/24 "2023-11-21T10:36:26Z")
Sorry, never saw the movie, so I don’t get it. I have been on twitter for more than 12 years. I fucking hate that a white supremacist now owns it and is ruining it. Elon Musk can go fuck himself. Saying it louder for the people in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/25 "2023-11-21T10:40:06Z")
X is an unknown, as in algebra. Twitter is known as a social media platform. Seems to me the answer is simple: Stick with Twitter, a recognized social media platform. X remains an unknown. Should be a no-brainer. ---
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/26 "2023-11-21T10:44:11Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I have been on twitter for more than 12 years. I fucking hate that a white supremacist now owns it and is ruining it. Well, I agree with the second sentence. And I’m very sure Elon Musk in several years will be in his personal hell “armed” with a keyhole saw, no clothes, and an eternity to ponder his fate. It’s just a website with an unfortunate name that spawned a number of vulgarisms like “tweet,” “tweeted,” and all the rest. That website and name no longer exist, except as a footnote. I’d rather move on, rather than remember the glory days. Opinions vary. > [@Spoons](#): > > Should be a no-brainer. Well, then do it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/27 "2023-11-21T12:10:53Z")
> [@ColdBrew50](#): > > It’s just a website with an unfortunate name that spawned a number of vulgarisms like “tweet,” “tweeted,” and all the rest. Which is it? Is the name “unfortunate” or is it a lightning-in-a-bottle coup that entered the language in a way advertisers would kill for? It can’t be both. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/28 "2023-11-21T12:16:09Z")
Birds, man. Vulgar dirty birds. Tweet Tweet. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/29 "2023-11-21T13:01:54Z")
There’s a music venue near Pittsburgh that was originally called StarLake Amphitheater. It has since had numerous names, as different companies have sponsored it. I still refer to it as StarLake and everyone my age knows where I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/30 "2023-11-21T13:07:29Z")
For at least as long as journalists used to refer to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, as opposed to that glyph symbol ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/31 "2023-11-21T13:10:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It has since had numerous names, as different companies have sponsored it. > > I still refer to it as StarLake and everyone my age knows where I mean. This is maybe even a step further: if I say I saw something on Twitter, people know what I mean — and if I say I saw something on X, it’s a roll of the fucking dice. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/32 "2023-11-21T13:13:59Z")
The Associated Press changed its stylebook only this year to recommend against referring to Ukraine et al. as “former Soviet republics.” ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/33 "2023-11-21T13:18:08Z")
So, Elmo will enter his very last twilight years before the change, assuming he does live to a ripe old age. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/34 "2023-11-21T14:04:38Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Sending a “Tweet” and “Tweeting” are part of a worldwide lexicon. Like Googling. Google made Alphabet their parent company but no one says they are “Alphabetting” something (nor has Google tried to make that change). I’ve never sent a tweet nor gone to Twitter/X to read one. But if someone refers to Twitter/a tweet, at least I know what they are referring to. If used in context, I remember that X is Musk’s new name for Twitter, but it makes the reference one step more distant/obscure. I have never heard a person referring to having sent/read an X - or whatever the current usage ought to be. So as long as Twitter is the common usage, journalists ought to include that reference. Meta and Alphabet - I recognize those as being the new names/parent companies of Google and Facebook (had to look FB up in this thread), but for this luddite, those names obscure more than they explain. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/35 "2023-11-21T14:08:16Z")
Twitter and Facebook are the Xerox and Kleenex of the era. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/36 "2023-11-21T14:21:25Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Twitter and Facebook are the Xerox and Kleenex of the era. Except that, unlike twitter, Xerox ,Kleenex , and Facebook still exist and haven’t changed their names. “Meta” and “alphabet” are more analogous to the names of other big companies, -such as car manufacturers. People refer to their car as a Buick, not a “General Motors”. The larger entity which owns it does not erase the brand names. . But “X” is intended to erase the brand name of twitter. A stupid idea, of course. Which leads to my next question: Has anybody ever asked Elon Musk why he chose “X”, and is he aware of how stupid it makes him look? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/37 "2023-11-21T15:18:09Z")
It still boggles my mind to think that someone that is supposed to be a genius in business would fail to understand the value of something so basic as a brand name. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/38 "2023-11-21T21:08:25Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > A stupid idea, of course. Which leads to my next question: Has anybody ever asked Elon Musk why he chose “X”, and is he aware of how stupid it makes him look? He has a thing for x. Paypal was originally [x.com](http://x.com), which is why Musk had that domain. There’s SpaceX, and now the website formerly known as Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/39 "2023-11-22T04:47:51Z")
“X, the faded remnant of a social media giant once known as Twitter…” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442/40 "2023-11-22T04:53:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The URL still contains `twitter.com`, and `x.com` is only a redirect. This. Changing or abandoning the domain name would cause so many problems that I don’t see it ever happening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-journalists-quit-referring-to-formerly-known-as-twitter/993442.md?page=3)