Twitter/X rival T2 rebrands as ‘Pebble,’ saying the old name was never meant to be permanent

An X challenger didn’t hide its ambitions to take on the social network formerly known as Twitter when it dubbed itself T2 at launch, but now that name — one which indicates a desire to build a Twitter clone — is no more. The company announced on its platform that the would-be X rival will now be called “Pebble.”

The reasoning behind the name change was explained in a short message presented to Pebble users:

A pebble is something small and unassuming. It can be tossed into the vast ocean like a tiny message sent out into the world. Each has its own unique character. Some are round and friendly. Some have edges to them. They make ripples that expand ever outward and change the nature of the sea itself. As they collect onshore, they create a spectacular beach where people can gather and admire the view. It’s a place we can visit and share ideas in times of joy, sadness, concern, and celebration.

The social network said it never intended the name T2 to be permanent, as they found it “too derivative and a bit uninspired,” the message also stated. And when they found the Icelandic top-level domain .is, they realized they could make a connection with their community by naming the site pebble.is.

That means T2 usernames will also reflect this rebranding, in the format of pebble.is/[username].

In addition to the rebrand, Pebble has a new look that features its Pebble logo and a new “Ideas” that offers post ideas based on what you’ve been chatting about, your bio and who you follow. You can dismiss any suggestion by tapping “ignore” to skip it.

Despite the renaming, Pebble has already cloned many of Twitter’s former features in the months since its debut, including the classic verification checkmark — even giving people their “legacy” verification back — as well as other features like quote posts, DMs and its own For You feed. Surprisingly, this has differentiated the network from other Twitter/X rivals like Mastodon and Bluesky, as the former doesn’t offer quotes or the same kind of private DMs that Twitter once boasted, and the latter doesn’t offer DMs at all.

Founded by Gabor Cselle, who sold his prior companies to Twitter and Google, and Sarah Oh, Twitter’s former human rights advisor, Pebble is backed by $1.1 million in funding. The funds are from a group of angels that includes Bradley Horowitz, Rich Miner and the former CEO of Wikipedia, Katherine Maher.