Charles Langston:Beyond X: Twitter's changed a lot under Elon Musk, here are some notable moves

For many regular visitors,Charles Langston the social media app formerly known as Twitter has become completely unrecognizable since Elon Musk purchased it last year.

From the removal of the blue bird logo to its current name "X," the business magnate has yet to ran out of ideas that cause a stir for users.

Just this week, the app began preventing headlines from appearing on articles linked in posts, so only an image appears.

Here are all the updates Musk made or suggested to the platform since taking charge:

X makes massive cuts to content moderation team, divisive content, etc

Since Musk's leadership, X has carried through massive employee cuts to its content moderation teams and the removal of state-affiliated media labels.

On USA TODAY's 5 Things podcast, Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer joined host Dana Taylor to share his insights on the cuts and discuss how Musk has made the platform much more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation.

5 Things podcast:Content moderation team cuts at X, formerly known as Twitter

Musk considers charging all users a monthly fee to combat bots

In a September interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk revealed he was considering charging "a small monthly payment" to all users in what he said was an effort to "combat vast armies of bots" proliferating on the website.

Column:Elon Musk wants me to pay to use troll-filled X? That'll be the nail in Twitter's coffin.

Flashing ‘X’ sign was placed at headquarters before being removed

The giant flashing “X” sign installed in August on top of the San Francisco building formerly known as Twitter headquarters was removed following several complaints the city received.

Musk changed Twitter logo from bird to new name "X"

In July, Musk changed the logo of Twitter to an "X" from the bird.

X temporarily capped how many tweets you can read a day

Musk also temporarily limited on the number of tweets users could read in July. For a brief period, verified accounts could read about 6,000 posts/day while unverified accounts were limited to just 600 per day.

Musk announces Linda Yaccarino as new CEO

In May, Musk revealed that NBCUniversal advertising sales chief Linda Yaccarino would succeed him as X’s CEO.

Musk eliminates 3,700 jobs leading to lawsuit

X abruptly eliminated 3,700 jobs at the social media platform just days after his takeover. This led to a class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court with signatures from workers who claim the company did not provide enough notice and is in direct violation of federal and California law.

Musk unbans Donald Trump's Twitter account

After a nearly two-year absence, former President Donald Trump's Twitter account was reinstated on Nov. 19, the same day Musk announced the decision on his platform.

X rolled out gold, gray checks along with blue verified mark

Last November, Musk announced that the platform's verified service would provide with different colored checks for people, companies and governments.

Platform began to start charging monthly fee for verification sticker

In October 2022, Musk announced that users who want to a verification sticker must subscribe to a subscription service for $8 per month, which came with other benefits like priority in replies, mention and search.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion

Musk bought the company for $44 billion, his initial bid following months of legal wrangling, according to a letter from his lawyers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In April 2022, Musk agreed to buy Twitter and take the company private but later tried to get out of the deal claiming the platform misrepresented the number of spam and fake accounts on its platform, which Twitter denied.