New Name For Elon Musk's Twitter? People Have Suggestions

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has been mired in chaos, with a string of controversies prompting users to suggest the platform change its name.

"Muskstake," "MuskaTears" and "The Social Media Network Formerly Known As Twitter" were among the proposals thrown out by Twitter users on Tuesday, as the hashtag #NewNameForElonMusksTwitter trended on the site.

Shortly after the world's richest man closed his $44 billion deal, hate speech surged on Twitter. Rallying behind Musk's promises of "free speech," an organized campaign of fringe users flooded the platform with antisemitic posts, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Washington Post reported that the use of the n-word spiked nearly 500 percent following Musk's acquisition.

The billionaire also tweeted a conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was beaten with a hammer inside the couple's San Francisco home last week. Only two days into his takeover, Musk shared an article with the headline, "The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was on Drugs And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Friday Morning." He added that there "might be more to this story than meets the eye" before deleting his tweet.

Musk was again criticized on Tuesday after he laid out a plan for users to pay $8 per month in order to hold a blue checkmark, typically used to signify that a public figure is "verified." Critics argued that journalists, politicians and other figures could more easily be impersonated if anyone could pay for the checkmark.

These head-spinning controversies have inspired Twitter users to propose a name change coronating the platform's new direction. Over 3,000 tweets offered recommendations under the hashtag #NewNameForElonMusksTwitter by Thursday afternoon.

"Twitter has become Biller, because freedom of speech has a price and that price is $8," said user @RezidentialKila.

"Catter—it's the only way to salvage it," offered user @MrsPretorius2, along with a video of a cat kneading at a toy computer.

Another user, @TenebraeAeterna, suggested "Maelstrom Media."

"Because at this point...we, as society, are all circling the drain of these chaotic times," she tweeted. "Change the blue bird to a black raven, for navigational purposes, of course."

"Fibber," said user @TheOriginalWTH. "Where free speech will include lies, disinformation, and hate speech."

Social media strategist Dan Levey proposed "Musketeers," adding, "The new blue check mark features will be called Musk-E-Tiers."

Other suggestions included "Dumpster Fire," "Elon Gated Community," "OnlyStans" and "Sh***er."

Newsweek reached out to Twitter for comment.