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[00:00.41] Twitter owner Elon Musk has launched a new logo – the single letter “X” – to replace the social media service’s famous blue bird.

[00:13.16] The X design started appearing at the top of Twitter’s computer version on Monday.

[00:21.92] But the old bird logo could still be seen across areas of the service.

[00:29.09] Musk announced in a Twitter message Sunday that he had decided to change the company’s logo.

[00:37.06] He said he had asked his millions of followers to provide logo ideas and if they would favor a change in the service’s colors from blue to black.

[00:51.14] When asked what tweets would be called without the blue bird logo, Musk said they would now be known as “Xs.”

[01:02.03] The latest change is one in a series Musk has carried out since buying Twitter for $44 billion last year.

[01:13.71] The billionaire businessman dismissed about 75 percent of the company’s workforce soon after the deal closed.

[01:24.60] Musk said the move was necessary to make Twitter more effective and increase profits.

[01:39.22] He also announced plans to start charging Twitter users eight dollars a month to keep a verified account.

[01:43.20] As Twitter chief, Musk also lifted some existing restrictions on user content.

[01:51.17] He said those changes were part of a larger effort to protect the free speech of Twitter users.

[02:00.20] Critics said his plans were likely to increase the amount of harmful content and hate speech appearing on the service.

[02:10.83] Musk’s changes led to drops in the number of Twitter users.

[02:16.40] Some advertisers stopped doing business with the company, as well.

[02:23.04] In a message on Twitter Monday, chief executive Linda Yaccarino wrote, “X is here! Let’s do this.”

[02:32.61] Along with her message, she published a picture of the logo projected onto the building’s headquarters in San Francisco

[02:42.96] Musk also commented on the logo change, writing, “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”

[02:54.92] Musk said the X.com web domain was already redirecting users to Twitter.com.

[03:04.74] A three-member team designed the first Twitter logo in 2012.

[03:11.39] One of those designers, Martin Grasser, described the blue bird logo as "simple, balanced” and easy to read at very small sizes.

[03:24.94] Matt Rhodes is with the British creative agency House 337.

[03:31.84] He told news agency Reuters that making changes to such an established brand presents big business risks.

[03:41.14] "Anything that makes it harder for people to find, or want to open the app on their cluttered phone screens risks harming usage," Rhodes said.

[03:54.42] However, Paolo Pescatore, a technology and media specialist who founded advisory company PP Foresight, said the change could be good. He spoke to the Associated Press.

[04:10.37] Pescatore said social media users currently can get confused by too many apps and messaging services to choose from.

[04:22.59] Driving users to one central place will “engage” more users and could make Twitter easier to use, he said.