Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has defended the controversial rebranding and ownership of the company by billionaire Elon Musk. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Yaccarino said that she has “autonomy” under Musk and that the rebranding was a “liberation” from Twitter’s legacy mindset.
Yaccarino, who joined X in June after leaving NBCUniversal, said that she and Musk have “very clear” roles at the company, with Musk focused on product design and new technology, while she handles the rest of the operations. She said that Musk has been working on transforming Twitter into X, the “everything app”, for a long time, and that the rebranding reflected his vision for the app.
“Think about what’s happened since the acquisition,” she said. “Experiences and evolution into long-form video and articles, subscribe to your favorite creators, who are now earning a real living on the platform. You look at video, and soon you’ll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform.”
Yaccarino also highlighted the company’s plans to enable payments between users and friends and creators. “The rebrand represented really a liberation from Twitter,” she said. “A liberation that allowed us to evolve past a legacy mindset and thinking. And to reimagine how everyone, how everyone on Spaces who’s listening, everybody who’s watching around the world. It’s going to change how we congregate, how we entertain, how we transact all in one platform.”
Yaccarino faces criticism and skepticism from analysts and users
However, Yaccarino’s claims were met with criticism and skepticism from analysts and users, who pointed out the numerous problems and challenges that X has faced since Musk’s takeover. According to a CNN report, X has had a summer of extreme difficulty carrying out basic functions, such as displaying tweets and hosting live-audio feeds. The report also said that Yaccarino’s answers were “detached from reality” and that she made “wild” and “laughable” claims about the app.
The report cited several examples of X’s troubles, such as:
- The app crashing repeatedly and showing error messages to users.
- The app failing to load tweets or update timelines for hours.
- The app losing millions of users due to frustration and confusion over the rebranding.
- The app facing legal issues and regulatory scrutiny over its content moderation policies and data privacy practices.
- The app losing advertisers and revenue due to its instability and unpredictability.
The report also questioned Yaccarino’s assertion that she has autonomy under Musk, noting that Musk has been known to interfere with his other companies’ affairs, such as Tesla and SpaceX. The report suggested that Yaccarino may be just a figurehead for Musk, who has ultimate control over X.
Yaccarino hopes to win back trust and loyalty from users and advertisers
Despite the negative feedback, Yaccarino said that she is confident that X can overcome its challenges and win back trust and loyalty from users and advertisers. She said that X is working on improving its infrastructure and performance, as well as introducing new features and tools that will enhance user experience and engagement.
She also said that X is focusing on its development rather than competition, and that it is not worried about rival platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Clubhouse. She said that X is unique in its ability to offer a variety of services and functions in one app, such as social networking, messaging, video calling, content creation, e-commerce, gaming and more.
She also said that X is committed to providing a safe and respectful environment for its users, especially for women and marginalized groups. She said that X has introduced new content control tools that allow users to filter out abusive or unwanted messages or comments. She also said that X is working with experts and organizations to address issues such as misinformation, hate speech, harassment and cyberbullying.
Yaccarino said that she believes that X has a bright future ahead of it, and that it will be able to attract more users and advertisers with its innovative and diverse offerings. She said that she is proud to be part of X’s team, and that she enjoys working with Musk.
“I think he’s brilliant,” she said. “I think he’s visionary. I think he’s fearless. And I think he’s fun.”
