Twitter has been in the headlines almost every week since billionaire Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging platform in October last year, sometimes for its new policies and the rest of the time for its owner’s controversial ideas. Not breaking its streak, Twitter has replaced its classic ‘bird’ logo with a ‘Doge’ meme. As of writing this article, the change can be seen only on the Twitter website, not on its app. The company’s CEO confirmed the change while sharing a screenshot of an old conversation between him and a Twitter user. “As promised,” Musk wrote.
In the shared conversation, a user asked Musk to “just buy Twitter and change the bird logo to a doge.” Before confirming the update, he tweeted a meme in response to the change which shows a police officer looking at a driver’s license with the blue bird logo on it, while the Shiba Inu in the car says, “That’s an old photo.”
Users can notice the Shiba Inu dog, which is also used by the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, both in its name and logo. The picture pops up while Twitter is loading as well as when the sign-in page is displayed.
The new update came just days after the social media platform removed the verified checkmark from the New York Times Twitter page after the media company confirmed that it will not pay for a verified check. Twitter has announced that it will take down the ‘legacy’ blue ticks after April 1. Accounts that were verified before Musk’s takeover are referred to as having a “legacy blue tick,”
Since Musk took over as Twitter’s CEO, the platform has undergone several radical changes. His vision for “Twitter 2.0” began with the dismissal of the former CEO, Parag Agrawal, and other senior executives. Subsequently, he implemented various changes to the company’s work culture, requiring employees to adapt to challenging working conditions.
About five months after acquiring Twitter, Musk stated that the company’s value had fallen to less than half of what he initially paid, plummeting to an estimated $20 billion. This revelation came despite his efforts to reshape the company’s direction and culture since taking charge on October 27, 2022.
For Twitter users, the most notable change has been the introduction of Twitter Blue, a subscription service that allows individuals to purchase a coveted blue verification tick for a fee. In India, the blue tick can be acquired for Rs 900 per month on iOS and Android devices or Rs 630 on the Twitter web. Users will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue if they wish to remain verified. This decision reflects Elon Musk’s apparent disdain for the legacy verification system and his eagerness to overhaul Twitter’s features.
