Gene X Hwang knew his days on Twitter as @x were numbered.
“Elon had been kind of tweeting about X previously,” Hwang said. “So I kind of knew, you know, I had an inkling that this was going to happen. I didn’t really know when.”
Since 2007, Hwang’s username on the site was @x — but after Elon Musk renamed the social media platform to X earlier this week, it was only a matter of time before the company commandeered the handle.
The news came shortly after Hwang had competed in a pinball tournament in Canada. "So when I landed and fired up my phone, I just got all these messages and I was like: ‘What is what is going on?’ "
Hwang received an email from the company explaining that his account data would be preserved, and he’d get a new handle. It offered Hwang merchandise, a tour of its offices and a meeting with company management as compensation.
Hwang’s account is one of the latest casualties in the chaos following Musk’s takeover of the social media company. On Monday, Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo was replaced with the letter “X.”
The rebrand is the company’s next step in creating what Musk has called “the everything app.” Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino envision the platform becoming a U.S. parallel to WeChat — a hub for communication, banking and commerce that’s become a part of everyday life in China.
But experts are skeptical X will be able to become an “everything app.” “I’m not sure he has enough trust from his user base to get people to actually exchange money or attach any type of financial institution to his app,” Jennifer Grygiel, a professor at Syracuse University, told NPR.
Hwang is among those who have been looking for Twitter alternatives. “I’ve been checking out, you know, other options like Threads and Mastodon and Bluesky,” he said. “I’m still on Twitter for now, but … it’s changed a lot. So we’ll see how much longer I’m on there.” Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.
- mxcory ( @mxcory@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 141•1 year ago
They should have offered them @twitter as a replacement.
- collegefurtrader ( @collegefurtrader@discuss.tchncs.de ) English33•1 year ago
@The_Hwang_Formerly_Known_as_X
- TehPers ( @TehPers@beehaw.org ) English1•1 year ago
@Gene_Probably_Better_Known_As_X
- Hirom ( @Hirom@beehaw.org ) 106•1 year ago
“Elon took my handle @x and all I got was this loosy t-shirt”
- bedrooms ( @bedrooms@kbin.social ) 24•1 year ago
Hwang received an email from the company explaining that his account data would be preserved, and he’d get a new handle. It offered Hwang merchandise, a tour of its offices and a meeting with company management as compensation.
Seriously.
- katy ✨ ( @cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 59•1 year ago
As if punishing him by taking his name was bad, he also got threatened with meeting Elon
- catastrophicblues ( @catastrophicblues@lemmy.ca ) 8•1 year ago
Seriously that would be great lol. At least it would be a funny reference.
- bunnyfc ( @bunnyfc@kbin.social ) 23•1 year ago
That photo looks like the swastika on the Reichstag before the Soviets blew it up.
- Elroy_Berdahl ( @Elroy_Berdahl@feddit.uk ) 9•1 year ago
I think you mean the swastika emblem on the Eagle on the Nuremburg stadium that the US blew up, but yes, I thought that too.
EDIT: Wasn’t on an Eagle, was just a huge swastika.
- Rayleigh ( @Rayleigh@feddit.de ) 8•1 year ago
There was no Hakenkreuz on the Reichstag, you are thinking of the Stadium in Nürnberg and it was the Americans who blew it up :)
- Chozo ( @Chozo@kbin.social ) 3•1 year ago
I’m not encouraging or condoning this sort of behavior, but I would be quite amused to see some creative vandals go make some modifications to Elon’s little monument.
- 👁️👄👁️ ( @mojo@lemm.ee ) English14•1 year ago
That random dude never owned the username, nor was he remotely noteworthy in any way. Twitter took it because Twitter owns their own site. Nothing is wrong here. Just like how my instance owner has the total right to do whatever they like to my account, including changing my username.
- calabast ( @calabast@lemm.ee ) 102•1 year ago
We know. Twitter had every right to perform this dick move. They did nothing technically wrong, in acting shitty to one of their users.
- NotYourSocialWorker ( @NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu ) 81•1 year ago
Agreed. I find it fascinating how hard it is for some people to understand the difference between “lawful” and “morally right”.
- socphoenix ( @socphoenix@midwest.social ) 49•1 year ago
For a lot of people, a shocking amount really the law is the closest to morals or empathy they possess. They also seem to spend a lot of time looking for ways to work around said law too
- MagicShel ( @MagicShel@programming.dev ) 20•1 year ago
“If there’s a loophole, you’d be a moron not to use it. Also, the loopholes are created intentionally by those with the wealth and power to take advantage of them.”
- parmenides ( @parmenides@lemm.ee ) 24•1 year ago
I guess lemmy isn’t immune to dumb elog reply guys
- dan ( @dan@lemm.ee ) English61•1 year ago
I mean. Sorta.
When you use some service you have some expectation that they’ll treat you fairly and predictably. Sure their Eula let’s them do whatever the fuck they want legally but that doesn’t change the fact that if they opt take certain actions (like arbitrary taking people’s usernames) then they risk losing user trust.
If the admin just took your username one day would you just quietly accept it? What if they edited or deleted your comments? Would you just shrug and say “well it’s their site they can do what they want” and just walk away?
Look what happened when Spez got caught editing posts on Reddit, for example. Massive user outcry.
Dude’s allowed to be annoyed about it.
- TWeaK ( @TWeaK@lemm.ee ) English18•1 year ago
I’d say it’s a bit worse than that. There is a market for unique usernames, and single character Twitter handles are some of the most valueable. This user has had that value taken from them, and while Twitter/X reserves the right to claim the handle they must reasonably compensate the owner of that value.
Twitter offering merch is likely an attempt to get them to accept some form of compensation, so they can claim the matter is resolved.
- renard_roux ( @renard_roux@beehaw.org ) English9•1 year ago
I bet you it was Twitter merch, too, and not X; they must have a lot of worthless bird paraphernalia lying around the X headquarters 🙄
Elon is not only a douche, he’s a cheap ass-douche.
- Galtiel ( @Galtiel@lemmynsfw.com ) English34•1 year ago
To be clear, “having the right to do whatever they want” does not equal “they’re not dickbags for doing it.”
Musk randomly decided to rebrand and stole a username he liked from someone because he’s an asshole playing at feudal lord. Sure, there’s no legal repercussions because it is his website. Doesn’t mean he’s not a fucking douche for doing it.
- apprehensively_human ( @apprehensively_human@lemmy.ca ) English26•1 year ago
While this is true, the act erodes confidence between users and the platform. (Whatever confidence that still remains)
- lasagna ( @lasagna@programming.dev ) English19•1 year ago
After all, it’s not illegal to be an asshole.
- deikoepfiges_dreirad ( @deikoepfiges_dreirad@lemmy.zip ) English13•1 year ago
The thing that’s wrong here is that people use/trust a proprietary web service as if it was a part of public infrastructure.
- swab148 ( @swab148@lemm.ee ) 4•1 year ago
including changing my username.
👁️👄👁️
- 👁️👄👁️ ( @mojo@lemm.ee ) English1•1 year ago
I like the name removed by mod too lol
- notfromhere ( @notfromhere@lemmy.ml ) 4•1 year ago
My very first mastadon handle was taken from me because it was two characters and matched one of the admin’s initials. I agree they had every right to do it.