One year ago, Elon Musk, the billionaire and new owner of Twitter, made a grand entrance into the company's San Francisco headquarters. Armed with a white bathroom sink and a mischievous grin, Musk proceeded to fire the CEO and other top executives, setting in motion a series of transformations that would ultimately reshape the social media platform into what is now known as X. Although X may bear a resemblance to its predecessor, the more time users spend on it, the more it becomes apparent that it is merely an approximation of what Twitter once was.

Musk's overhaul of X has involved dismantling core features that defined Twitter's identity. The platform's name and iconic blue bird logo have been discarded, along with its verification system and the Trust and Safety advisory group. Musk has also done away with content moderation and the enforcement of hate speech regulations. In the process, he has fired, laid off, or lost a significant portion of the workforce, including engineers, moderators, and executives responsible for rule-making and enforcement. As a result, long-time observers of Twitter argue that the platform has lost its role as a flawed yet valuable source of information about current events.

The future of X and Musk's ambition to turn it into an "everything app" that dominates the social media landscape remains uncertain, much the same as it did a year ago. Jasmine Enberg, an analyst from Insider Intelligence, remarks, "Musk hasn't made any meaningful improvements to the platform and is no closer to achieving his vision of an 'everything app' than he was a year ago." Instead, X has repelled users and advertisers, and now it has forfeited its primary value as a central hub for news.

Musk's status as one of the platform's most popular and active users even before he acquired the company has provided him with a unique perspective on Twitter. However, many of the changes he has implemented on X have been based solely on his personal impressions of the site. In fact, he even sought advice from his millions of followers on how to manage the platform, with many suggesting that he should step down. Enberg argues that Musk's approach of treating Twitter as a technology company to be remade in his own vision, rather than recognizing it as a social network fueled by people and advertising revenue, has been the primary cause of its demise.

The once-revered blue checkmarks that indicated the authenticity of an account's owner, such as celebrities, athletes, journalists, and nonprofit organizations, have now been reduced to merely showcasing subscription services that cost $8 a month. These paid accounts have been found to spread misinformation on the platform, often amplified by X's algorithms. For instance, a report from the nonprofit Media Matters revealed numerous blue-checked X accounts with tens of thousands of followers falsely claiming that a mass shooting in Maine was a "false flag" orchestrated by the government. Similar accounts were also found disseminating misinformation and propaganda about the Israel-Hamas conflict, leading the European Commission to formally request information from X regarding its handling of hate speech, misinformation, and violent terrorist content related to the war. Ian Bremmer, a prominent foreign policy expert, took to X to express his astonishment at the level of disinformation being algorithmically promoted on the platform, describing it as unlike anything he had encountered in his career as a political scientist.

The uncertainty surrounding X extends beyond its identity crisis. Even before Musk's acquisition, Twitter was already grappling with financial difficulties. The situation appears more precarious now, with Musk taking the company private and its financial records no longer being publicly available. In July, Musk disclosed that the company had lost around half of its advertising revenue and continues to carry a significant debt load. He candidly stated on X, "We're still negative cash flow," attributing it to a "50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load." In an attempt to woo back top brands, Musk brought in Linda Yaccarino, a former NBC executive with extensive connections in the advertising industry. However, the results of this effort have been slow to materialize. Although some advertisers have returned to X, their spending has not matched previous levels, despite a rebound in the online advertising market that boosted quarterly profits for Meta (Facebook's parent company) and Alphabet (Google's parent company). Insider Intelligence estimates that X will generate $1.89 billion in advertising revenue this year, representing a 54% decline from 2022. The platform has not earned such low ad revenue since 2015 when it amounted to $1.99 billion. In 2022, it stood at $4.12 billion. External research also reveals a decline in X's usage. According to Similarweb, global web traffic to Twitter.com dropped by 14% year-over-year, while traffic to the ads.twitter.com portal for advertisers decreased by 16.5%. The platform's performance on mobile devices was equally disheartening, with a 17.8% decline in monthly active users for Apple's iOS and Android combined.

Enberg contends that even before Musk's involvement, Twitter's cultural relevance was already waning. However, the platform's demise has been self-inflicted, with numerous wounds inflicted through a series of ill-advised decisions. Typically, when a social platform loses its appeal, external factors contribute to its decline. In the case of X, however, this is not the norm.

As Musk's grand experiment with X continues to unfold, both users and industry experts remain skeptical about its future. Will Musk achieve his lofty goal of transforming it into an "everything app"? Or will X fade into obscurity, a cautionary tale of ambitious yet misguided leadership? Only time will tell.