"X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities," Yaccarino tweeted/xeeted/posted/whatevered.
"Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to imagine. For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential. X will do that and more. We've already started to see X take shape over the past 8 months through our rapid feature launches, but we're just getting started."
The license for crypto payments was granted earlier this week, and the outline of what's coming is really taking shape.
Could this idea of a super-app — one app for payments, food ordering, social networking, broadcast messaging, and everything else like WeChat has in China — really be the next "impossible" thinking that comes true?
"A super-app is a pie-in-the-sky idea," social media expert Matt Navarra tells Newsweek. "It's not going to get anywhere near a reality any time soon. I'm not optimistic about him being able to transform it into a multibillion-user platform or even a single-billion-user platform. The biggest chance is still Threads, but there are still big question marks over that.
"Short-term to medium-term, there's no chance of anything noteworthy coming out of X that will cause us to have a u-turn on our beliefs."
Oh.
Musk has himself admitted that half of X's value has been "destroyed," blaming the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for "falsely accusing it and me of being antisemitic." X was approached for a comment on this and other questions raised in this article. An automated response said: "We'll get back to you soon."
But what happens if Elon is right?
There is a significant gap in the social landscape for connecting people with other people. Once connected, there's Snapchat, Discord, WhatsApp and others for private messaging.
For mass broadcasts, Instagram and TikTok are used by billions. It is that space in between —easy to spot but tricky to define — where people can meet new people that the opportunity exists.
If X gets that right and pushes podcasts, TV shows, payments, and a marketplace through that same platform, it becomes the model for others to follow. The problem is that it feels like Facebook Dating, Facebook Marketplace, and Facebook Watch with a different name.
"Most of the things he [Musk] calls innovations are just rehashings of ideas that have been tried before," Navarra says.
"There's an audience for Elon's Twitter/X. But it's only got a small appeal to a very specific existing Twitter/X user and it will probably drag in the type of user that will typically hang out on Truth Social or any 'alt' platform."
So what happens if Elon Musk is right about Twitter/X?
A lot of analysts will be left red-faced, and how social media integrates with the rest of the web will be changed forever.
Is it possible? If Musk's track record is anything to go by, impossible is not impossible. But Musk's track record so far has not included social media. And that, in a list of big hurdles, could be the biggest hurdle of all.
The questions we still don't have answers to after researching this article: (all musings/questions/opinions welcome to [email protected] if you think you know the answers)
1. If Elon is right, why have all previous attempts been wrong? Every social network has tried a marketplace, most have tried payments, and every "pivot to video" has quickly passed. What's different this time?
2. Can nearly every analyst be wrong? Research for this piece began thinking that there wasn't a consensus on Twitter/X's future. As far as mainstream expert opinion, there isn't much of a dissenting voice.
3. How long can X/Twitter sustain without advertising? Navarra told us that advertisers aren't returning, and Musk has said previously that the risk of bankruptcy is real. Can it be held up until this plan has a chance of having a chance?