Elon Musk’s Twitter Takes @X Username From Original Owner
In its rebranding efforts, Twitter (now known as X) took over the user account with the handle @x from its original owner, Gene X Hwang. Hwang had owned the @x handle since 2007 and had gained over 53,000 followers on the platform. He said he was open to trading the handle but did not receive any financial compensation from X.
X informed Hwang via email that the handle was affiliated with X Corp and provided him with a different handle, @x12345678998765. His posts and followers were also transferred to the new account. Hwang mentioned that he would have accepted some form of compensation but wasn’t trying to extort money.
The company offered Hwang “X merch and an exclusive visit to X’s HQ to meet members of our team” as compensation. However, Hwang had already visited the company’s headquarters in the past and expressed more interest in Twitter-related merchandise.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, announced the rebranding of the company over the weekend, including a change in the company’s logo to a simple “X.” As part of the rebranding, official accounts on the platform have been changing their names, and the main account took longer due to Hwang’s ownership of @x.
Users on the platform noticed the transition of the then-private account @x, as it started changing its bio and displaying the new X logo. Some users made jokes about the situation.
Hwang tweeted that all’s well that ends well after his account was changed to the new handle.
It’s worth noting that selling handles on the black market violates Twitter’s policy, which prohibits buying and selling handles. Hwang’s account had been hacked in the past, but he was able to regain control.
One company account that has not changed its name yet is @TwitterMovies, possibly due to concerns that the name X sounds like a porn website.
Additionally, X might face trademark issues with their new “X” logo, as Meta also holds rights to a trademark for the same logo. Furthermore, X’s attempt to switch out the Twitter sign at their headquarters was foiled by the police, who initially responded to a possible unpermitted street closure but later determined it was not a police matter.
Please note that a spokesperson for X did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
