Member-only story
No, Elon, you can’t make a “WeChat of the West”
Elon Musk wants to turn Twitter into an “everything app,” but is that something we actually want to have? Is it even possible?
Elon Musk has made it no secret that he wants to turn Twitter, which he acquired in October 2022 and then renamed X.com, into an “everything app” or the “WeChat of the West.” But what does that actually mean? Why did he change the name of one of the most recognizable platforms in the world?
The reason why Musk changed Twitter’s name and “bid adieu to all the birds” is because, “In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world. The Twitter name does not make sense in that context…”
This as-yet to be seen addition of the ability to handle finances on X.com is part of his plan to turn the platform into a super app like WeChat, one that does just about everything (hence “everything app”) and is practically required for daily life online. He saw the acquisition of Twitter as an “accelerant” toward achieving this dream. Ostensively, with his experience from founding PayPal, this everything app goal should be achievable in theory.
But nothing has happened yet. And that’s probably for the best,
- firstly because the idea of this “everything app” doesn’t take into consideration that wants and needs of users
- secondly, it doesn’t seem like Musk acknowledges the real reason why WeChat is so successful
- and thirdly, trust in Musk and his ventures has eroded considerably.
What pain points does the “everything app” solve?
One might think that, having everything in one place would be convenient. It’s frankly annoying that every service seems to have its own individual app cluttering up my phone. One pain point an everything app would solve would be the disparate clutter created by there being one app for messaging, one app for banking, one app for online payments, one app for ride…
