Twitter’s recent transformation into the multiuse platform X, as announced by Elon Musk, has not been without its share of controversy. The unexpected move has raised questions about branding, intellectual property rights, and the handling of longtime users, especially after the company claimed the ‘@X’ username from Gene Hwang, a San Francisco photographer who had held it since 2007.
Hwang, who owns a photography and videography studio called Orange Photography, has been known for his contributions to the creative community through his business. The @X handle had been Hwang’s for the past 16 years, but Musk’s rebranding campaign resulted in Twitter claiming the username as part of the transformation process. Hwang received an email notifying him that his handle was now the property of the company, leaving him with little recourse.
“They just took it essentially – kinda what I thought might happen,” Hwang revealed in a statement to UK-based daily, The Telegraph.
Despite Hwang’s willingness to consider selling the handle to Twitter, the company made no monetary offer. Instead, Hwang was offered a few options, including the opportunity to select any unclaimed or inactive usernames. The compensation package also included some smaller perks, such as X merchandise and an exclusive visit to X’s headquarters to meet members of the team, but no financial incentive was provided.
“I had suspected this could be an outcome and as such I wasn’t too upset,” Hwang stated in a phone interview, expressing his acceptance of the situation.
Meanwhile, the company has moved Mr. Hwang’s account to a new handle called “@x12345678998765.” Following the company taking back his username, he tweeted: “All’s well that ends well.”
The sudden claim of a longtime user’s handle raises questions about the fairness and transparency of such actions, as it underscores the power dynamics between social media platforms and their users. Twitter’s terms of service explicitly state that users have no legal rights over their usernames, leaving them vulnerable to potential takeovers without any compensation.
