The Twitter brand is back. It’s not how you remember it
Arguing that Elon Musk abandoned the old Twitter name and logo when he rebranded the social network to X , a group called Operation Bluebird has launched Twitter.now , an X alternative that brings back the Twitter branding and logo with a twist. [Images: Twitter, Operation Bluebird] The old Twitter logo was a blue bird called Larry, named after the Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, and its last…
A group called Operation Bluebird has unveiled Twitter.now, an X alternative that reinstates the Twitter brand and logo, albeit with a modern twist. The old Twitter logo, a blue bird named Larry, was replaced by a design featuring feathers that seem to rise from the ashes, capturing the essence of a phoenix. The site's error page even mirrors the old Twitter's "fail whale" graphic, signaling service disruptions.
Twitter.now is selling early access for $20 and proudly declares it is "not affiliated with X Corp." However, it still retains enough of the original Twitter's visual identity to invoke nostalgia for the platform before Elon Musk's takeover.
Cofounder and former Twitter trademark counsel Stephen Coates clarified on LinkedIn that this is not a re-creation of the old platform. Instead, Twitter.now aims to offer a distinct user experience that resonates with contemporary grievances against Musk's X and the broader landscape of social media. One of the site's distinguishing features is an automated fact-checking tool called Vera, powered by Google's Gemini AI, which scrutinizes posts for accuracy.
The site's "Birdhouse Constitution," a publicly posted set of values, underscores principles like safeguarding freedom of speech, but not "freedom of reach." It also explicitly states that "Fame, wealth, office, and follower count buy no special treatment. No one is above the rules. No one is beneath them."
In a legal dispute with X, Operation Bluebird sued last year, alleging that the company was "brazenly attempting to steal the world-famous Twitter brand." X's legal team countered that Operation Bluebird had no rights to the Twitter trademark and the bluebird logo, which X Corp. owns. Operation Bluebird, which declined to comment, argues that X abandoned its trademarks.
Despite X's daily active user base decreasing by around 10% last year, and the percentage of U.S. adults using the platform remaining flat since 2024, there remains an appetite for a platform that embodies the "public town square" experience Twitter once provided. By resurrecting elements of the classic Twitter branding, this new venture seeks to tap into nostalgia for the feed era before Musk or X.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
