Elon Musk keeps tweaking the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and this latest change is bound to irritate some users. The X app has started removing the headlines from news article links shared on the site, saying it’s for “aesthetic reasons.” Before, a link to a news article would appear with the headline and a short description.
X removes news headlines.
Now, only the featured image will show up when a user clicks on the post. The title of the article won’t be visible until they visit the actual page. The move will affect the way media companies and journalists share content on the site.
A news article without a headline is effectively useless. It’s also likely to make X less popular with people who use the service for news discovery, as well as those who want to discuss or debate current events. The change is one of several that X owner and founder Musk has made since taking over the company last year.
He’s rolled back verification badges for sites that don’t agree to pay a fee. He also changed the name of the platform and thought of charging all users a monthly fee to fight spam and bots. The latest move is another sign of the tycoon’s hostility toward traditional media.
This fuels his belief that X is a more trustworthy source of information. He also railed against what he calls “legacy” news media and promoted his vision of a future in which citizens report on events as they happen. Posting text, audio and video directly to the platform.
A source close to the matter says that Musk pushed the change. Musk feels that articles take up too much space in the timeline and wants X to look cleaner. The source adds that the company ran the idea by advertisers, who didn’t like it, but that the decision finalized regardless.
But the change shouldn’t have a significant impact on users overall, according to experts. X is a minority service. Only 5% of Twitter’s users are on the app, and only 29% say they get their news from it.
For the most part, Twitter X attracts journalists and other industry professionals who can afford spending time creating original content. It’s not as reliant on advertising as its larger sibling. Moreover, the $8-per-month premium version of X has plenty of room for them to include more context in their posts. As long as they don’t go over 280 characters.
