Let’s not pretend that “Twitter” was one of the all-time great brand names. It conveyed a sense of frivolity that may have been attractive at first, but that also made it easy to avoid taking it seriously, even as the service was becoming integral to the business and political worlds. Historians will one day look back at the fact that “tweets” could move markets and raise nuclear tensions, and justifiably roll their eyes.
But while Twitter’s terminology was dumb, at least it was user-friendly; everyone knows what you mean when you say “tweet” or “retweet.” The language that comes with the site’s new name—X, as of last night—is by comparison very badly thought through.
