Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, has removed headlines from news stories published by users after the site’s owner stated that doing so would improve the appearance of the posts, in a move that could aggravate the social media platform’s already strained relationships with media organizations.
What has changed?
According to sources, the modification was first implemented for iOS and PC users on Wednesday (October 4). By this, links uploaded on the microblogging platform now appear as the picture posted in the article, with the link’s domain displayed in the text on the bottom left side of the image. (mrbonespumpkinpatch)
As a result, visitors will now have to click on the image to access the link, even though the appearance of the photographs published on the site has only been slightly altered.
Notably, while Musk has long targeted “legacy media” and previously asserted that X is a better source of information, the latest modification will “greatly improve the aesthetics.”
In August, media reports concerning news and other links that appeared simply as photos with no text first surfaced. Following a Forbes report, the Tesla CEO stated that the modification is in the works. “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics,” said Musk.
The move has been criticized
According to the news agency AFP, the change was implemented gradually this week, with viewers now seeing merely an image with a little watermark instead of a headline and a photo.
Several microblogging platform users have reportedly stated that it has become impossible to differentiate between news and other types of information.
Many have also raised concerns about the website’s integrity when Musk, following his $44 billion transaction and takeover, allowed banned conspiracy theorists and extremists back on the platform.
The deterioration of X’s connection with the media
Earlier this week, Musk posted, “I almost never read legacy news anymore.” He added, “What’s the point of reading 1,000 words about something that was already posted on X several days ago?”
Furthermore, some media sites have stopped posting on X entirely, claiming an increase in hate speech and Musk’s behavior following the takeover, not to mention his reported suspending and then reinstating accounts of many journalists.
In August, various media organizations, including Reuters, the New York Times, and others, reported a delay and briefly appeared to impose a five-second delay on loading links to news sites on X.
