From Twitter to X: A Journalist’s Journey of Voice and Change[/TITLE>Much of the platform’s pioneering days have faded from my memory, yet its transformative impact remains a defining element of my career.I first discovered ويسر the internet in 1995, and an early fascination with sharing my perspective led me to create a handful of websites on services like Angelfire and 8m. Those early attempts, however, lacked a supportive ecosystem—much like opening a shop in an unfamiliar, sparsely populated alley rather than a bustling marketplace. It wasn’t until social media platforms such as MySpace and Facebook emerged that the groundwork for a truly participatory digital landscape was laid.When Twitter launched publicly on July 15, 2006, I quickly recognized its potential as a personalized news conduit. A former BBC colleague once remarked, “It’s like having your own breaking‑news platform; тим you set your own agenda,” and that insight spurred my swift registration.While I cannot recall whether I posted my first tweet immediately, the platform’s role in shaping my future as an international journalist was unmistakable. Twitter’s first pivotal moment for me unfolded during the 2009 Green Revolution in Iran, when the service’s real‑time updates reshaped the discourse and amplified citizen journalism in ways traditional media could not.Having gained exposure to the power of real‑time tweeting during earlier events—such as reports from Iraq’s war front via Salam Pax and the subsequent surge of independent journalists—I began to use the platform to chronicle regional crises. My timeline captured events from seismic activity in Japan to political upheavals in Lebanon, Somalia, and beyond, culminating in the transformative Arab Spring.Coverage of the Libyan revolution in March 2011 cemented my reputation. Operating from Sallum, a village on the Egyptian‑Libyan border, I transmitted updates in real time via a crackling Thuraya satellite phone, allowing a colleague in Cairo to publish my words despite my limited connectivity.Subsequent assignments in Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Somalia entrenched Twitter as an essential tool for my reporting, while also enabling me to contribute to international publications such as Al‑Monitor and The Sunday Times.Prior to 2013, my reporting was largely unfocused across various global conflicts. That changed when I became bureau chief in Tehran, a role that deepened my specialization and broadened my network through Twitter’s reach.My specialization allowed me to break stories on Iran’s nuclear negotiations ahead of conventional news agencies, delivering synchronized Arabic and English reports within minutes and announcing critical agreements before other newsrooms finalized their bulletins.During subsequent crises—including the war against ISIS, the 2020 Baghdad airport incident involving Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al‑Muhandis, and other high‑profile events—I consistently leveraged Twitter to disseminate firsthand information promptly and accurately.Beyond conflict reporting, Twitter has been a platform where I have engaged directly with heads of state, celebrities, and the global community, fostering immediate interactions that yield instant feedback—both praise and criticism. The platform serves not just as a conduit for news but as a living archive of my career and the history of public discourse.On the 100th anniversary of World War I, I used Twitter to honor my family’s legacy, sharing personal narratives that connect my great‑grandfather Ali Hashem and grandfather Hussein to the broader saga of the war.Colleagues from Al Jazeera, stationed in northern Palestine, even employed the platform to locate my family’s ancestral village, a cemetery in disrepair, and the grave of a great‑grandmother who was never found.My deep engagement evolved into an academic inquiry: a master’s thesis on Twiplomacy that examined how a platform originally conceived for casual interaction has quietly redefined diplomatic practices, with Iran’s nuclear diplomacy as a central case study.In the summer of 2023, after Elon Musk announced the rebranding of Twitter to X and the removal of the iconic blue bird emblem, I expressed my hope for the platform’s future with पद “Someone buy Twitter and save the bird.” The emblem disappeared, yet the name “Twitter” remains the term that naturally surfaces in both Arabic and English when I refer to the platform.