Elon Musk changing Twitter’s name to X results in massive decline in app downloads

Rebranding exercises are complicated. While the actual name and logo change is the easy part, acclimatizing consumers to the new brand identity is the difficult bit. Recently, we saw Google attempt this when it decided to merge Google Duo with Meet, making them the same app. For months, Google kept both apps available even when it opened in a common interface. Then, it slowly began notifying users about the shift and the eventual merger took place. On the other hand, we have X (formerly Twitter) which completed its entire rebranding process in three days. And a report now reveals that it may have resulted in a hit to the app’s download numbers.

Eric Seufert, an analyst, posted different graphs on his X account and highlighted the impact Twitter faced in app downloads after changing its name and logo. The graph took a daily download count for top social media apps to check Twitter’s performance against other similar apps. He also said, “Twitter has seen a dramatic decrease in its Top Downloaded chart position across both platforms since the app was renamed to X”.

Twitter witnesses fall in app downloads following name change

The data is shocking. In both the App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android, Twitter posted boast-worthy numbers till July 31, the last day when the Twitter name and the logo were seen on the application marketplaces. But a major downtick was noted from August 1, the day the platform officially switched to X.

There are reasons for it as well. The company spent no time or effort, apart from in-app messaging to let people know that Twitter was now X. While searching for Twitter does show X, the lack of similarity between the logos and name, as well as no mention of the word ‘Twitter’ within the app page, makes it very difficult for a user who has not been up-to-date with the entire rebranding to even know that they are the same platforms.

“My hypothesis is that, while the terminally online are entirely aware of Twitter's rebrand to X, most consumers aren't, and their searches for "Twitter" on platform stores surface ads and genuine search results that are in no way redolent of Twitter. This is unrecognizable,” Seufert added.