~ Y2K is a source of nostalgia for Millennials; it’s also currently going through a revival with the Gen-Z’s interest in the culture of the 2000s;

~ Y2K seems symbolic as it was originally born out of excitement for web 2 and the new millennium; its revival can be partially attributed to the launch of web 3 — Y2K is something familiar and yet exciting and new all the same;

~ Y2K is also going through a rebrand now as Gen-Z attribute some parts of the original 2000s culture while modifying the rest to fit in with their own culture, style and worldview

~ vaporwave: direct inspiration from the Memphis group

~ more on vaporwave: tropical skylines with altered reality vibes like unnatural hues and glitches

~ escapism??

~ bringing back “Twitter” and Larry the Bird

~ the aesthetic of cyber culture

~ textures: liquid chrome, glitter, translucent plastic

~ muted iridescence (reflects the cautious optimism of the current gen)

~ 3D design (influenced by “blobism” / “blobitecture”)

~ ditch the white space and pristine elements

~ “Word Art” Microsoft Word (Windows 95)

~ chunky / bubbly / blocky / futuristic fonts

~ more on fonts: sans-serif + easy to read (threads & tweets need readability)

~ colours: deep blues, purples and teals + pastels + cool neon shades (think cyberpunk)

~ references to early forms of social networking and cyber culture

~ classic gradients with subtle iridescent and metallic “finishes”

~ cluttered “diy” interface / aesthetic

~ Jimmy Soni: “X as a digit, as a variable allows you to say, “X checking, X PayPal, X loans, X this, X click, X that.” So the idea was that X was a kind of hub and from it, would emerge all these other financial spokes.”

~ Musk wants to transform Twitter into an “everything app” (Musk said in an interview that he was inspired by WeChat)

~ “x” represent variability, but also ambiguity - it’s meant to represent everything, but ends up representing nothing

~ X doesn’t have an identity - even its logo design almost entirely mimics the Unicode symbol for “x” + the colour black = the absence of colour (either doesn’t evoke anything in particular, or evokes strong negative or suggestive associations)

~ Twitter - it’s all in the name

~ the definition of “twitter” is a short burst of inconsequential information and chirps from birds, which describes the purpose of social networking on Twitter — to share short and quick information

~ Twitter doesn’t need to be an “everything app”

❤️ threads contribute to endless discussion, which anyone can take part in, regardless of their follower count;

❤️ Twitter shares information instantly and without bias - in a way, it presents the most actual and objective news on the internet;

❤️ Twitter makes its users feel more in touch with global news and trends;

❤️ provides a hotline to the world's influencers and celebrities;

❤️ a constant source of memes and drama.

💔 marketing schemes and stunts flourish on Twitter by taking advantage of its algorithm;

💔 Twitter’s manner of news sharing breeds “headline reading” (i.e. convinces the users of the headlines’ factuality without the need of context);

💔 Twitter encourages lazy thinking and virtue signalling;

💔 most content on Twitter is designed to elicit the strongest emotional response, which contributes to the posts’ virality;

💔 Twitter is a source of negative emotional contagion for many of its users;

💔 there is more negative content on Twitter than there is positive, because negative content is more likely to go viral; furthermore, Twitter’s anonymity encourages venting, making it the perfect breeding ground for toxicity;

💔 Twitter is heavily politicised (over 80% of world leaders have verified Twitter accounts), which in turn elicits conflict on political grounds; additionally, Twitter is often used to spread political propaganda.