Elon Musk, who has been in charge of the relaunched Twitter known as X since October 2022, has announced plans to do away with headlines from news stories shared on the network in an effort to streamline user experiences and increase platform engagement. This choice coincides with Musk’s ongoing efforts to turn X into a comprehensive and feature-rich “everything app.”
According to Fortune, the upcoming update will reduce the vertical space occupied by individual tweets in order to fit more content into users’ timelines. Thousands of news stories shared by consumers and organisations alike are currently available on Twitter, which many people use as their major news source. The headline will not appear when a link is shared on X as it will only show an image and a URL overlay.
Clicking on the link, however, will direct users to the original publisher’s website.
Sources indicate that Musk initiated this alteration with the objective of optimising screen real estate and potentially mitigating clickbait. Although advertisers reportedly expressed concerns, the change is set to proceed as part of Musk’s vision.
Musk urged journalists to publish their work directly on the X platform in a recent tweet, offering “more freedom and higher income” as rewards. This change fits in with Musk’s broader objective of expanding the capabilities of X and giving consumers more control over content.
Musk acknowledged the difficulties the platform was having despite his transformative efforts and its rebranding as X. He stated bluntly that there are currently no exemplary “great social networks,” but he reaffirmed X’s commitment to creating one.
Although there have been mixed reactions from users to the rebranding, X CEO Linda Yaccarino emphasised the platform’s importance and function in the changing digital landscape.
Recent rumours have also appeared about X’s prospective expansion into employment-related functions, broadening the platform’s usefulness for users. X might become a destination for both news consumption and professional participation thanks to a forthcoming job-search tool.