Elon Musk, the CEO of X and Tesla, has confirmed that he is working on removing headlines from news links that are shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He said that this change will improve the aesthetics of the platform and reduce clickbait.
Musk made this announcement in a post on X, responding to a report by Fortune that revealed his plan. “This is coming from me directly,” Musk wrote. “Will greatly improve the esthetics.”
According to Fortune, Musk believes that news articles take up too much space on the timeline and wants to allow more posts to fit on the screen. He also thinks that this will discourage users from sharing sensationalized or misleading headlines without reading the actual content.
The report also said that advertisers did not like the idea, but it is happening anyway. “It’s something Elon wants,” an unnamed source told Fortune. “They were running it by advertisers, who didn’t like it, but it’s happening.”
The change will affect how news publishers and advertisers reach their audience on X, as well as how users consume and share information. Currently, posts with links are displayed as a “card” that shows the headline, lead image, and a short description of the story. After the change, only the image and a URL overlay will be shown. Users will have to rely on just the picture to gauge what the link is about, or add their own text to explain it.
The change will also benefit users who subscribe to X Premium, a service that allows them to post longer tweets and videos up to 25,000 characters. The card format was introduced when tweets were limited to 140 characters.
X has not announced when it will implement the change, but some users have noticed that it has already been applied on the mobile app.
Musk also encouraged journalists to publish their work directly on X, saying that they will have more freedom and income. “If you’re a journalist who wants more freedom to write and a higher income, then publish directly on this platform!” he tweeted.
X has introduced a program that gives creators a share of the revenue generated through ads that are featured in the replies to their posts. Some users have claimed that they received thousands of dollars from X for their posts.
Musk has been making radical changes to X since he took over the platform in October 2022. He renamed it from Twitter to X, saying that it will become an “app for everything”. He also launched X Blue, a subscription service that offers exclusive features and content for users. He has also expressed his vision of creating X Coin, a cryptocurrency that will be integrated with X.
Musk is known for his ambitious and controversial projects, such as SpaceX, Neuralink, and Hyperloop. He has also been involved in several disputes with regulators, competitors, and critics. He has a loyal fan base of over 200 million followers on X, who often support his ideas and initiatives.
