Linda Yaccarino was all on board for Twitter’s name change, signal-boosting the decision and arguing the case for it, as you’d expect any CEO to do. To illustrate her support, she changed her username on the platform from Lindayacc to LindayaX.
Before making the move, she posted a poll, asking what she should change the username to, but slipped up and wrote her former username as “lindayaccs.” That account was promptly grabbed by a troll, who has had no end of fun parodying Yaccarino’s online presence. (Her actual former account has been erased.)
The troll account is clearly labeled as parody in an attempt to avoid Twitter’s wrath, but whoever is running it is having some fun while they can. “Hello fellow Reptilians!” read one post, while another created a poll saying “Let’s revert back to Twitter! Who’s with me?” (More than 88% of the over 800 people who voted on that poll said they wanted to go back to the site’s old name.)
Per Twitter/X’s rules, accounts that are clearly labeled parody are allowed to exist. Elon Musk, though, has shown a willingness to ignore the rules he sets or rewrite them with no warning, so there’s no telling how long the parody account will remain live.
The company’s security department, which would normally have watched for these sorts of parody accounts, was largely laid off last year after Musk bought the company.
An obvious spoof of the CEO is likely the least of Twitter/X’s problems these days. Musk has said the company has a negative cash flow and has seen a drop in ad revenue of roughly 50%. The company also got in hot water with San Francisco building inspectors when it added a flashy new X sign atop its headquarters. It was removed just days after it went up.
