X is a social media platform that was previously called – and is still better known as – Twitter. 

Rebranded by owner Elon Musk in 2023, X lets users post short written messages and media content, follow accounts, comment on posts, and send direct messages. 

Here’s what you need to know about X. 

What is X?

X was founded in 2006. With around 400 million monthly users, it’s one of the most popular social media apps. X is available on both mobile and desktop. 

The minimum age to use it is 13, but this can be bypassed easily by entering a false date of birth. Users need an email address or phone number to verify their account.

X disable the accounts of users who they suspect of being under the age of 13. 

Why the name change?

Entrepreneur Elon Musk bought the platform in October of 2022. In mid 2023 he decided to rebrand Twitter as ‘X’ to give the platform a fresh start and to develop it further.

X is still mainly designed to let users make posts and to interact with other people's posts. However, since rebranding, Elon Musk claims he has plans to turn X into an "everything app" with additional features like payment processing and banking. 

How does X work? 

Users create an account by entering in their date of birth and then a mobile number or email address. They can then select a username. 

After creating an account, X asks users what sort of content they’d like to see on their feed. Users are able to pick topics that interest them, and can also choose to follow some popular recommended accounts. 

Users are also able to follow other accounts on X by directly searching for them. They’ll then be able to see posts from these accounts on their feeds, as well as reshare these posts onto their own profiles for their own followers to see. 

When it comes to customising their profile, users can add a profile picture, header image, a short bio, and other details like date of birth or rough geographic location. 

Posts can be up to 280 characters in length. These can include text as well as photos, videos, and links to other sites and content. Users can also direct message one another. 

Accounts can be set to either private or public. If your account is private, all new followers will have to be approved, and posts won't be visible to non-followers, even if your followers interact with them. These settings are public by default. 

Users can view other tweets related to a specific subject by searching the hashtag (#) symbol followed by keywords – anything from #BakeOff to #Election2023. Having hashtags in your own tweets means these will be findable by others if your account is public.

What do parents need to be aware of?

There are a number of things which parents need to be aware of when it comes to X.

Disinformation and hate speech

Elon Musk is a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”. When he acquired the company there were questions about whether X would relax its stance on certain types of content.

And some believe that, since the takeover in 2022, this has largely held true – with the platform allowing previously banned accounts back onto X. 

Two high profile cases of this are the accounts belonging to Andrew Tate and Donald Trump (who were banned for misogynistic content and inciting violence, respectively). These have both been unbanned and allowed to return to the platform (although Donald Trump is yet to).

Researchers have suggested that use of racial and homophobic slurs have increased during this period, and X’s Covid-disinformation policy has been dropped, too.

Adult content

X does not allow violent, graphic, or nude content in the ‘highly visible’ areas of the platform. This includes: profile pictures, header images, or any form of live video.

X does however allow sexual and graphic content within posts, providing this media is marked as ‘sensitive’. 

If a user is 18, they can ignore the sensitive content warning and access adult or graphic media. Under 18s are not able to view sensitive content – but can bypass this by submitting a false date of birth. 

Advertising and influencer marketing

Although not as influencer-heavy as platforms like TikTok or Instagram, X is still used by celebrities to promote and endorse products.

The platform has come under scrutiny for how much cryptocurrencies and NFTs are advertised – these can be expensive and risky investments.

Advertising and influencer marketing could create a pressure to spend money among younger, impressionable audiences.

Are there any safety features?

Blocking and reporting

X allows users to report content and block other users. 

Any content that is reported is sent for review by X’s moderators. Although X does allow some types of adult content, you can report ‘sensitive’ photos or videos if you think they are excessively gory or pornographic. 

You can also report another user’s tweet for things like racism, homophobia, or inciting violence. You can make reports by selecting the ‘three dots’ and then ‘Report tweet’. You can also report messages this way via your direct messages.  

X has several levels of response to tweets and messages that it considers to violate its terms of service. They may limit how visible this tweet is to others, remove the tweet entirely, or suspend the account which posted it. 

You can block another by tapping the three dots and then selecting ‘Block user’. Once a user is blocked you’ll no longer see their tweets and they won’t have access to your profile or any content you’ve posted previously. 

Content restrictions 

X permits some forms of adult content, meaning it can be difficult to ensure your child does not encounter any of this whilst using the platform.

One way of limiting the chance of this happening from the outset is to make sure the date of birth associated with their account is under 18. This means sensitive content can’t be accessed by default.

This is not a fail-safe method as users are able (a limited number of times) to change their date of birth via their settings. 

Privacy

X allows users to set their account to private. This means that all new followers have to be approved and that anyone who isn’t already a follower is unable to see and interact with your tweets. 

To access this privacy setting go into ‘Settings and privacy’, then ‘Audience and tagging’, and select ‘Protect my tweets’.

Protected tweets can still be liked, commented on, and retweeted amongst a user’s followers. 

You can also adjust settings for direct messaging. You can either have your direct messaging inbox open only to accounts you follow, open to verified users, or open to everyone. 

What else do I need to be aware of?

Previously certain users of X were given a ‘blue tick’ next to their account name to show that they were ‘verified’ by the platform. Typically, verified accounts were reserved for celebrity figures and other recognised companies.

This changed however at the end of 2022, when it was announced that users could now have their account verified with the same blue tick for a monthly subscription fee of £9.60. 

Because the blue tick is so heavily associated with celebrity status it may create a desire for children to pay for it on an ongoing basis. 

At the same time, children may be more likely to place their trust in accounts which are verified, despite the fact that anyone can pay for the blue tick. 

Finally, the rebrand of Twitter to X hints that there are may be upcoming changes to how the platform functions. At the moment however there is little information on what these changes are likely to be – or when they’ll occur. 

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