I SUPPOSE you could say changing the Twitter bird logo to an “X” makes complete sense. As the recognised icon for “make it go away”, X just about sums up the achievements of Elon Musk’s social network so far.

Gone are many of Twitter’s users, half of its advertisers, 80 per cent of its employees and its operational stability. Gone is its credibility as a leading platform for following breaking news, a forum for activism and change, or a place to simply get updates on whatever it is you care about.

Next up – unless this is all one big ruse, which can’t be discounted – is the one thing still giving Musk’s US$44 billion deal for the social media site some value: the Twitter brand itself. It will now be known as X, Musk has decided. The little blue bird, famous internationally, is destined to disappear.