Musk removes headlines from articles shared on X
Christopher Hutton
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X, formerly Twitter, now strips headlines from articles posted to the platform as part of the latest product design implemented under owner Elon Musk.
Users on the X iOS app noticed late Wednesday that articles posted to X no longer had their titles attached. The change was rolled out to the web version of the app by Thursday. Instead, the app only shows the lead image of the article and website it originates from.
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Musk had discussed removing headlines from X’s interface based on the notion that the design choice would reduce the size of news content, allowing more space for other content in users’ timelines.
The change, though, makes it difficult to ascertain the nature of the link and could cause confusion for users.
The design choice would “greatly improve the esthetics [sic],” Musk tweeted. The idea came directly from him, according to Fortune.
Musk reportedly ran the idea by advertisers, who were not receptive. He went through with it regardless.
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Musk has had X’s team amend the app’s design in several ways in recent months. X now allows users to hide their likes if they pay for premium. It also introduced a program that will enable users to verify their identity by sharing a copy of a government-issued ID. Musk is also considering charging all X users a “small monthly payment” if they wish to keep using the platform. It’s unclear if X CEO Linda Yaccarino was aware of this design decision before Musk’s announcement.
Musk’s vision is to turn X into an “everything app” that can compete with the likes of PayPal and other social websites such as Facebook and Instagram. He appointed Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, as the CEO in May to help the company as it seeks to improve its finances.