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Why don't you rename this article to "X (social network)"?
As of September 2024[update], there is no consensus to rename Twitter-related articles to "X". Since Wikipedia editors cannot agree on which title to use, the status quo is retained by default.
Please see the extensive list of discussions on this matter, in particular, this one, this one, and this one. Please do not attempt to make a new move request unless there have been substantial new developments or if you have a highly convincing argument that was not previously considered.For recognizability and ease of searching, Wikipedia articles use the name most commonly used in reliable sources, which is not necessarily the official name used by its owner or its current name. For example, we use Kanye West instead of Ye (musician), Statue of Liberty instead of Liberty Enlightening the World, and United Kingdom instead of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As noted, since there is currently no consensus on the common name of the platform, the article remains titled "Twitter" by default. Twitter and its related terms (such as tweet, a dictionary word) remain widely recognizable to the general public due to its history and cultural impact. Renaming this page "X" would also require some form of parenthetical disambiguation, whereas Wikipedia prefers the use of natural disambiguation if possible. Finally, there is "no consensus that Twitter and X are such radically and fundamentally different products that they should be covered entirely separately".
Twitter was one of the Engineering and technology good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
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Predictions of the end of Twitter was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 24 July 2023 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Twitter. The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.
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I read the FAQ. Looked at the RMs. Couple thoughts:
Most prior discussions have low attendance, less than a dozen editors. I don't see discussions of long length involving the wider community.
The argument of discoverability is the same argument that Twitter is/was the better brand name. Hardly anyone will disagree with that, forever. It was an epic brand rename failure. Thus, we on Wikipedia will always argue that Twitter is more "discoverable", because it's fundamentally true on and off Wikipedia. Nevertheless, maintaining Twitter forever, for discoverability reason, is POV, essentially concurring with - and consciously indicating - it was a brand rename failure.
X.com redirects to twitter.com .. this is an extremely strong case for keeping Twitter for now. If/when the company changes to X.com, the case for Twitter gets weaker.
Wikipedia can follow the lead of many other sources using "X (formerly Twitter)" etc.. as an intermediary step, a deprecation step. This is already done piecemeal throughout Wikipedia.
I agree with concerns over small headcounts in the previous RMs. An RfC should probably be done in the future, with options like "X (social network)", "X (website)", "X (formerly Twitter)", and "Twitter" as titles. SWinxy (talk) 19:44, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would keep the current article name, because it’s the historical and common name. But if you had to change it, I would change it as “X (formerly Twitter). TheMasterMind321 (talk) 20:41, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Unless we can agree on “X (formerly Twitter)” being the WP:COMMONNAME I doubt that we could change it to that. I can’t think of instances where we had to attach the former name to the title, and you’re unlikely to get consensus on changing it to something like “X (social network)”. The fact that the URL is still twitter.com and consensus being that “Twitter” is the COMMONNAME lends credence to maintaining the current title. PadgriffinGriffin's Nest03:15, 12 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The lead currently begins X, commonly referred to by its former name Twitter, though it is edited frequently and may well change again during this discussion. Other versions appearing this week include Twitter, officially known as X since July 2023, and simply X. Can we agree on a stable version? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Certes (talk • contribs) 05:17, 3 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, is there any clear guidance on which name should be used in other articles? Should it still be referred to universally as Twitter? "X (formerly Twitter)"? ViperSnake151 Talk 04:44, 4 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Changing the lead sentence.
The lead sentence should be: “Twitter, officially known as X since July 2023.” Instead of “X commonly referred by its former name, Twitter.” It’s just better wording, and it saves some time reading. + the article name is “Twitter.” So start it with Twitter & not X because people might not know what that means. And then add “officially known as X since July 2023.” To let people name it started out as Twitter then became X in July 2023. Therefore spreading more information. So my version of the lead sentence makes more sense. TheMasterMind321 (talk) 20:32, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would agree, but there is hidden text saying Please do not alter this wording. Is there a consensus for this wording, or was it added unilaterally? BilledMammal (talk) 02:08, 10 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The wording was shaped by multiple editors over the course of several months. The hidden note was added because drive-by editors would arbitrarily change the wording every few days, which led to edit wars and instability. I don't think any wording is necessarily "better" than others (there are probably a million different combinations we can use), but there is WP:IMPLICITCONSENSUS for the current wording. If editors desire a formal discussion to reach formal consensus on a wording, I wouldn't be opposed. InfiniteNexus (talk) 00:57, 14 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The current version was authored by @Unknown0124 in February 2024. Before that, it changed many times (formerly and commonly, colloquially, formerly known as, formerly called, currently rebranding to X, etc.) Again, I don't really have a preference for which wording, but I do think we should pick one and stick to it. InfiniteNexus (talk) 01:07, 14 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Changing primary URL.
Twitter officially known as X since July 2023. Is changing their primary domain from Twitter.com to x.com, and it’s already happening on the app. X.com will be the primary, we don’t know if Twitter.com will be a secondary domain or not even exist. And t.co most likely stay. So x.com is the new primary url. TheMasterMind321 (talk) 20:34, 9 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
VPNing into NZ redirects to X.com for me. In the states it goes to Twitter.com for me, and my profile is still copied as Twitter.com/[myusername] TechnoKittyCat (talk) 02:40, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
+1 as an Australian, redirects to x.com if I go to twitter.com. Seems like they're rolling it out in some jurisdictions, probably as a test. I've updated the article to say that as of today , in some jurisdictions twitter.com redirects to x.com with a citation. If anyone has any issue then go at it I guess haha Luminism (talk) 08:35, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
+1 another Australian. It's redirecting to x.com for me but showing the following error message on desktop: "Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot." My best guess is that they're phasing it in. It's working for me on mobile view though. It's not letting me archive but it's showing the following message: "Welcome to x.com! We are letting you know that we are changing our URL" Since it says that they're changing it, it means that they haven't completely changed it for everyone and there's no need to update the primary URL until it's transitioned. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻13:24, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It is x.com for me in Britain now and has changed in the last 24 hours. Still looking for secondary sourcing on this but it looks like the change is in progress.--♦IanMacM♦(talk to me)08:13, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Previous consensus: I don't have an opinion on this matter but there have been six move requests in five months, the previous one as recently as five months ago, and the general consensus has been that unless the new article title meets WP:COMMONNAME, WP:NAMECHANGES, WP:NATURAL and/or WP:CRITERIA, it is unlikely to be moved. The name an entity chooses to identify as is not always the article title. For example, if Kanye West identifies as Ye, it doesn't mean that Ye is more recognisable. It is extremely unlikely the article would be moved to X so if it is ever moved, it may be to X (social network). 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻09:20, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Confirmation via the Verge. That said, while renaming is now likely an option, I still suggest that we should keep anything dealing with Twitter prior to Musk's buyout as a separate, historical article. --Masem (t) 11:57, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
Twitter → X (social network) – The arguments presented in the talk page notice are not sufficient; such a supposition must be stated before I may present my arguments. Likewise, the previous discussions referenced do not adequately express the necessity of a move request. I believe this qualifies as both a "substantial new development", as references to "Twitter" now appear officially absent, and an objection to a previously and overwhelmingly considered argument.
The argument that Twitter is the WP:COMMONNAME for the topic of this article is not well-supported, and the referenced articles above are not comparable. For instance, Kanye West is the name Ye chooses to perform under. The Washington Post lists several companies that have changed their name after becoming established. Though these examples often predate Wikipedia or occurred before the pages for these companies were made. It is not uncommon for a company to change its name or the name of its service; despite the strange decision, the usage of "Twitter" does not reflect self-references to Twitter or X by the company and an increasing acceptance towards "X". Though not infallible, Google Trend data suggests an acceptability towards X.
Though there remains a significant usage of the term, I believe sufficient time has passed to support the claim that X may be used to a degree wide enough that—with consideration for official usage—this move request is supported. The term "X" has largely replaced "Twitter" in news articles where the service is not being referred to in the past, though "formerly known as Twitter" remains a common descriptor. This appears to be associated with a change in the AP Stylebook. help.x.com refers to "X Rules" and "X accounts", and twitter.com is now x.com, the reason why I have suggested this move; The Verge wrote "it's not Twitter anymore". In a personal account, many articles I edit where a person is quoted on the topic have increasingly referred to X, not Twitter.
This move request is largely without precedent, but there exist instances where object within the real world have changed names, creating an inconsistency with colloquial references to said object. Willis Tower in Chicago is commonly referred to as Sears Tower because the tower had been known as that for 35 years. Similarly, Comiskey Park is known as Guaranteed Rate Field and formerly U.S. Cellular Field, but Chicago residents continue to refer to the field as "Comiskey". Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is Washington National Airport to many. Name rights moves may be comparable in this circumstance, as they present a shift in colloquial terminology and official terminology that is reflected within Wikipedia to adhere to the present name of the field or building. elijahpepe@wikipedia (he/him)13:53, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose only because what should be done is keep Twitter as everything pre-Musk take over (with a brief summation of the takeover), and move Twitter under Elon Musk to X (social network) to cover the takeover. There will need to be some content shifted between these two articles, but this will make future editing of the new stuff cleaner than trying to fit the new stuff into what Twitter did from the start. --Masem (t) 15:05, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Also we should decide what to do with History of Twitter, which I think should be merged into these two articles on the same basis; the content there split between pre- and post-Musk easily fits within both of these suggested articles. — Masem (t) 15:07, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I still don't have an opinion on this issue, however, the Google Trends data above suggests that "Twitter" is still the significantly more common term when compared to the increased use of "X" alone. However, waiting for the use of "X" to become as common as "Twitter" may be WP:CRYSTALBALL territory and @Masem's proposal is an effective middle-ground to end what is by now a repetitive and cyclical pattern while following WP:Article titles perfectly. Those currently opposing the move below, as of writing, all support this proposal which would treat what are now inherently two separate topics. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻16:56, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support. There is no reason not to rename the page, X has been known by its new name for a good while now, the only people protesting this are those living in a pipe dream where they think that not changing this page name is going to make Elon rebrand X to Twitter. Professional Adriazeri (talk) 15:13, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Which is effectively what I've proposed above, just starting from a different approach to reach the same conclusion. — Masem (t) 18:42, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose because making X (social network) a separate article is preferable. There's so much shift in the platform after the acquisition (premium service, API pricing, check mark policy, media reports on increased hate speech...) that different articles should cover the entities. Emiya Mulzomdao (talk) 16:06, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
These changes don’t constitute the separation of the article, the platform hasn’t been merged or split and still operates similarly to before it was acquired by Elon Musk. No other article would be split in the event of a rebrand, this one should be no different. Professional Adriazeri (talk) 17:01, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Viacom (2005–2019) and Viacom (1952–2005) set an excellent precedence for splitting as a result of corporate leadership changes. There's zero question that the function and operation of X from its management (Musk) is far different from the function and operation of Twitter before then, and most of those aspects of Twitter remain important from an historical context. — Masem (t) 18:48, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support: It's finally time. Most media outlets just call it X now. The transition from Twitter branding is pretty much complete by now and only certain stubborn factions, and the otherwise ignorant with little-to-no interest in X remain. And frankly, a lot of people insisting on still calling it Twitter have their own WP:NPOV-violating reasons. In the spirit of our guidelines, we have to embrace the new name; it's been like two years now. The domain change was the final straw; NOT changing the title by now raises suspicion.--~Sıgehelmus♗(Tøk)20:13, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
twitter.com is just a redirect for me now. I see no vestiges of Twitter on the Support or even more technical pages or dev forums, like it was for a while. Everything has been swept up now. It's like Bell becoming AT&T, or [insert better brand analogy here]. It's over. The common name is sufficient in the lede, not the title. (Edit: excuse me, it seems "Twitter API" has yet to be updated in toto, but I imagine there's hurdles to that considering its critical functions. The exception that proves the rule? "X API" is being used sometimes though too.).--~Sıgehelmus♗(Tøk)20:50, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, per all. Twitter's history extends much further back than the last 1.5 years. It's better known as twitter. Also, it currently has the nice url of wiki/Twitter, rather then renaming it to something like "x (social network)" or "x (formerly twitter)" (To the inevitable person who is going to insist that this social network is more relevant than the letter x, and deserves wiki/x, please come to my talk page, where i will thoroughly enjoy that argument). Your google trends data is worthless, because it compares searching for a literal letter (which could be done for other things--Google X, Project X, SpaceX, US Steel, X.org, pretty much anything with an X) with twitter. There hasn't been enough use of "X" to just ignore the 15 full years of Twitter. Tantomile (talk) 23:55, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support: Those who oppose changing the name of the article do so out of a sense of nostalgia and a grudge against Elon Musk. Twitter was beautiful but it's gone, you have to accept that, you may still use the old name yourself but you can't change anything by force just by thinking that's how it is. Wikipedia should not be guided by your personal feelings, it is an encyclopedia and it should write what something is officially called.
See previous two sections. We have RS confirmation its changed, so we're discussion renaming and/or splitting. Masem (t) 18:58, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Talk following up from original: Requested move 17 May 2024.
Ok. I get all of you want to make it redirect to X (social network). But Wikipedia won’t like it and some other people won’t like it and move it. What I suggest is a move to: X (formerly known as Twitter). It’s straight forward, it’s on point, it includes “Twitter.” & most media outlets even call it “X (formerly known as Twitter). I think it’s better than X (social network). Give me your opinions in the comments as: “Yay” or “Nay” & / or: “Agree.” or “Disagree.” Please give me a response, I’ll check the talk page in a couple hours after this post. Thegreat6336836853 (talk) 22:39, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. I would be mad that it would be “X (social network).” I mean it’s not bad but I think X (formerly known as Twitter) is better. Since it has Twitter in it. TheMasterMind321 (talk) 22:40, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]