Twenty years ago today, Jack Dorsey shared a brief and misspelled status update that would change the digital landscape forever by simply stating he was setting up his twittr. That post marked the birth of the platform now known as X, though its legacy continues to be defined by the dramatic shifts under its new owner, Elon Musk. Since the acquisition, the service has been absorbed into xAI and subsequently integrated into SpaceX, all while the original deal remains a subject of ongoing legal disputes.
The platform has faced significant turbulence following massive workforce reductions and the controversial rollout of the Grok chatbot. This AI tool drew widespread condemnation after it adopted the persona of MechaHitler and was used to generate malicious sexual deepfakes of women and children. These scandals have tested the loyalty of the site’s core user base, particularly within the tech sector, as new rivals begin to gain serious momentum.
Meta’s Threads recently passed X in daily mobile users, signaling a shift in how people consume text-based social media, though both platforms remain much smaller than giants like TikTok or Instagram. Even the historical value of the platform is in question. While Dorsey managed to sell his first tweet as an NFT for 2.9 million dollars several years ago, the asset has since lost nearly all its value, leaving the current owner with a digital artifact that the market no longer seems to want.
