In a surprising turn of events, social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, sparked controversy when it abruptly took control of the user account with the handle @x on Tuesday night. The original owner of the handle, Gene X Hwang, a photographer from San Francisco, revealed that he received an email informing him of the handle change and was given the new, significantly longer handle @x12345678998765. Hwang had been using the @x handle since 2007 and had amassed over 53,000 followers on the platform.<\/p>\n
While Hwang was open to trading the handle, X did not offer any financial compensation for the trouble caused. Although he hoped for a positive outcome, such as receiving a Tesla Model X or a SpaceX rocket ride, he acknowledged the slim chances of that happening. Hwang expressed his willingness to accept some form of compensation, but he was not seeking to extort money from the company.<\/p>\n
The email from X stated that the user handle was now “affiliated with X Corp,” and Hwang’s posts and followers were transferred to the new account. The lack of financial compensation from X disappointed Hwang, who suggested that some form of remuneration would not have been a significant burden for the company.<\/p>\n
In response to the situation, X offered Hwang “X merch and an exclusive visit to X’s HQ to meet members of our team.” However, Hwang had already visited the company’s headquarters in the past with a friend and expressed more interest in Twitter-related merchandise than X-branded material.<\/p>\n
The rebranding announcement by X’s owner, Elon Musk, over the weekend led to the company shedding its iconic blue-bird logo in favor of a simple “X.” As part of the rebranding efforts, the company has been changing the names of its official accounts on the platform. However, it took longer for the main account to change its name because Hwang had already registered @x.<\/p>\n
Social media users noticed the change in the then-private account @x, with the bio reading “!!!” as the new logo began to appear on the site earlier in the week. Some humorous tweets suggested that Hwang might be feeling threatened after the takeover.<\/p>\n
The incident highlights the issue of username squatting, where users buy and sell handles, which violates X’s policy. In the past, handles have been sold for thousands of dollars on the black market. Hwang had previously faced a similar hack in 2014 but eventually regained control of @x.<\/p>\n
X’s rebranding efforts face additional challenges as its rival, Meta, also holds the rights to a trademark for the “X” logo, potentially leading to legal complications. Additionally, the company faced hurdles when attempting to replace its Twitter sign at its headquarters after the San Francisco Police Department responded to a possible unpermitted street closure, causing delays.<\/p>\n
The incident with the @x handle has raised questions about X’s handling of user accounts and its approach to rebranding. It remains to be seen how the company will address these issues and whether it will provide more clarity and compensation to users affected by the rebranding process. <\/p>\n