It’s been over two years since Twitter officially became X, and marked a huge change in the social networking site.
So whether you’re still not really sure what happened with Twitter, or you’re just curious to see exactly what has changed, this guide is here to help.
We explain everything you need to know about X, including what it is, whether it’s safe for under 18s to use and how it’s different from Twitter.
What is X?
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter back in October 2022, in a deal worth $44 billion, he rebranded the social media site to X. This rebrand included the name change, a new app icon and color scheme.
If you were a frequent Twitter user, then you’ll notice how X does feel fairly familiar, which is mainly thanks to its vertical-scrolling timeline, emphasis on short text posts and the concept of “followers”.
While it does undoubtedly retain some of the key features that made Twitter stand out in the first place, and continues to be a key social platform for news outlets, politicians and celebrities, look a bit closer and you’ll notice plenty of key differences.
How is X different from Twitter?
One of the biggest differences between X and Twitter is that anyone can now pay to get the infamous blue tick badge on their profile. Back in the day, the blue tick meant that the account holder was verified and would be doled out by Twitter once it completed its own internal checks.
Now, a blue tick can be purchased for a starting price of £8.17 / $8 a month with an annual membership. It is worth noting that you aren’t just paying for the blue tick, and you’ll also see half the amount of adverts on your timeline, a larger reply boost, access to Grok and more.
There’s also Premium Plus which will set you back from £31 / $40 a month with an annual membership. This eye-watering subscription cost includes a fully ad-free X experience, the ability to write articles, access to Super Grok and the largest reply boost.
Alternatively, if you run a business or organisation’s X page, then you can opt for a gold tick which means you’re a subscriber to an X Premium Business account. Starting at £160 / $200 a month, not only does this bestow a gold checkmark onto your page, but you’ll also benefit from $2,500 annual ad credit, analytics, priority support and more.
Another difference between X and Twitter is the block function, which no longer prevents users from viewing your posts. Instead, if you’ve blocked someone then you can peek at their posts without affecting the blocked status.
Finally, there are a handful of limits for X users. Although you can now write posts with up to 280 characters each, there’s a daily limit of 2400 characters. In addition, you can only follow up to 400 accounts and send up to 500 direct messages daily.
Is it possible to use Twitter without an account?
No, it isn’t possible to use X (formerly known as Twitter) without an account. While you can view individual posts by clicking through links, your access is limited unless you sign into or up for an account.
How old do you have to be to have an X account?
Whether X is an appropriate social networking site for those aged between 13 and 18 years old is debatable. As X permits sharing of sensitive material, including graphic media and adult content, and although minors can’t access such media types, it certainly feels like teenagers might be better off elsewhere.
In fact, X itself disclaims that as a service, it is not primarily for children. Having said that, anyone above the age of 13 can sign up for an account but there will be some safety features put into place to keep the user safe. These features include:
- Accounts will be defaulted to protected, which means they’ll have to approve who can view and interact with their posts
- Minors are restricted from accessing sensitive media types
- Users can choose who can reply to their posts and can block or mute accounts instantly
Why are people leaving X (and where are they going)?
As you can imagine, many users have not been happy with Musk’s increasing efforts to disable popular features and paywall others behind the X Premium banner. Others disagree with the X owner’s political beliefs and recent step into American politics as President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-lead and unofficial BFF.
These factors have led to what many have referred to as a mass “X-odus”, causing huge download spikes for competitors like Bluesky, Mastodon and (very briefly) Instagram Threads.
Bluesky seems to be a particularly popular bet for a Twitter successor. Not only does the app look a lot like Twitter back in the day, but it was originally developed with the help of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey as a decentralised take on Twitter before moving to become independent in 2021. However, whether or not the app can displace X remains unclear.
