Arguing that Elon Musk abandoned the old Twitter name and logo when he rebranded the social network to X , a group called Operation Bluebird has launched Twitter.now , an X alternative that brings back the Twitter branding and logo with a twist. [Images: Twitter, Operation Bluebird] The old Twitter logo was a blue bird called Larry, named after the Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, and its last iteration was released in 2012 and made from 13 overlapping circles . The logo for Twitter.now was designed differently, with feathers that flare out and suggests, perhaps, a phoenix rising from the ashes, but the colors and basic silhouette are still there. An error page shows the bird on a dead whale, recalling the old Twitter’s “fail whale” graphic used during service outages. It also brings back Twitter’s iconic bright blue. The site is selling early access starting at $20, and states at the top of the page next to its logo that it’s “not affiliated with X Corp.” Still, it retains enough of the classic Twitter visual identity to evoke the old brand. [Screenshot: Twitter.now] Operation Bluebird co-founder and former Twitter trademark counsel Stephen Coates wrote on LinkedIn that the site “is not an attempt to recreate the old platform.” While it has some of the same features as classic Twitter, like handles, retweets, and replies, the creators emphasize a different kind of user experience that speaks to current frustrations some have with Musk’s X and social media today. An automated fact-checking feature on Twitter.now called Vera runs on Google’s Gemini and fact-checks posts, and in its “Birdhouse Constitution,” a publicly posted list of values, the company highlights things such as protecting freedom of speech but not “freedom of reach” and the fair application of rules. “Fame, wealth, office, and follower count buy no special treatment. No one is above the rules. No one is beneath them,” it says. X sued Operation Bluebird last year , and attorneys for X wrote in their suit that Operation Bluebird was “brazenly attempting to steal the world-famous Twitter brand” despite having no rights to it, and that X Corp. owned the Twitter and tweet trademarks and the bluebird Twitter logo. Operation Bluebird, which did not respond to a request for comment, contends X abandoned its trademarks. X saw its daily active user base fall about 10% last year, and the percentage of U.S. adults who say they ever use the platform was flat from 2024 to 2025, according to Pew Research Center . Meanwhile Meta’s own Twitter clone, Threads , hit 500 million monthly active users in June. In January, Threads had 141.5 million daily active users on mobile, more than X’s 125 million. X has hit a ceiling under Musk, but there’s obviously still an appetite for the sort of “public town square” social media experience it once offered. By bringing elements back of the the classic Twitter branding, this attempt to make a new Twitter is appealing to nostalgia for the feed before Musk or X.
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