Elon Musk has overhauled how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
As part of Musk’s latest update to X, he has stripped out the headline and text so links to news articles only display the article’s lead image when appearing on a user’s timeline.
“This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics,” said Musk in a post responding to news about the change.
Although Musk had confirmed the plans back in August, the update didn’t get pushed through until the start of October.
Now, when X users come across a news article shared on the platform, the timeline will only display the article’s lead image with the link to the news site embedded in the picture.
The change is said to help reduce the amount of space articles take up on the timeline, thus allowing users to view more posts in less time when scrolling through their timeline.
Musk also reportedly believes the move will help curb the amount of clickbait posted to the platform.
“Our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X, so links don’t get as much attention, because there is less time spent if people click away,” Musk said in a post shared on October 3. “Best thing is to post content in long form on this platform.”
Musk hasn’t had the best relationship with news outlets, having eliminated the media relations departments at both X and Tesla.
Additionally, news outlets have a long-going practice of sharing articles on social media platforms like X and Meta (formerly Facebook) as a means to drive traffic and monetization to their own websites.
While it is unclear what impact the change will have on posts shared by news sites, it has had mixed reviews among recreational users so far.
For instance, one questioned the practicality of it by saying, “Esthetics are one thing, knowing what you’re going to read to want to click on it in the first place is another.”
“This change is minimal but much needed. Any other changes coming soon?” commented another.
