Twitter's X Sign Goes Up, Comes Down Over Headquarters In What Many See As Emblematic Of Twitter's Awkward Transition

There's already plenty of evidence of people online resisting Twitter's rebrand to X, and it seems Elon Musk has run afoul of the decision's harshest critic yet: the city of San Francisco.

Last week, the Twitter HQ underwent a farcical ordeal in which they got five-sevenths of the way through removing the "Twitter" sign from the side of the building, only to be stopped by the city because it didn't have the necessary permits (briefly leaving behind a big sign that said "er").

Then, builders erected a giant, glowing X on top of the office building, which had to be taken down after just three days due to complaints from neighbors who were being bombarded with its bright flashing light.

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said it received two dozen complaints about the sign over the weekend concerning both the structural safety of the unauthorized sign and its bright, flashing illumination, according to the Associated Press.

This whole Twitter rebranding is going from nonsensical, to stupid, to downright insane. This is the new Twitter, or X, or whatever it's called now, sign seen from an apartment near the HQ. Are you kidding me? This is absurd and I'm sure it's illegal.pic.twitter.com/UB2zeE4YXT

— Anis Jerbi (@ArtistAJ17) July 29, 2023

Neighbors said the sign's constant flashing was reminiscent of lightning strikes or police sirens. Social media users had memed the sign's brightness as well in its three days of existence.

For many, the saga of Twitter's brightly-flashing "X" sign seemed emblematic of the site's largely unpopular rebrand to "X."

Many expressed that, like "X" in general, the sign was a hasty, impulsive decision that likely came from Musk himself, only to be instantly met with backlash and legal issues.

Meanwhile, Twitter users are resisting the change to X by creating browser extensions and other workarounds to keep the X logo from appearing on their desktop and mobile home screens.