Elon Musk says X will remove headlines from links to news articles
Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators
23 August 2023 - 09:14
byYuvraj Malik
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X logo at the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in San Francisco, California, the US, July 30 2023. Picture: CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
Bengaluru — Elon Musk is pushing to change how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, in a move that could potentially undermine the ability of news publishers to draw audience.
X is planning to remove the headline and text while retaining just the lead image from links to news articles shared on the platform, Musk said in a post late on Monday.
Fortune had first reported the news on Monday, citing a source that the move was pushed directly by Musk.
The move is most likely an attempt by Musk to get users to spend more time on X and push them to opt for the subscription service for more details.
It is not immediately clear how the move will affect advertisers on the platform that Musk claimed in July had 540-million monthly users.
Currently news links come up on the timeline of users as “cards” along with an image, source address and an abridged headline. Such packaging helps draw clicks and helps publishers gain readers.
But with the shortened links, users might end up writing some text along with their posts and eventually they could consider X's premium service that allows a single post of up to 25,000 characters.
With the changes, Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers can now post longer videos, their posts are shown higher up and they also receive a cut of advertising sales.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Elon Musk says X will remove headlines from links to news articles
Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators
Bengaluru — Elon Musk is pushing to change how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, in a move that could potentially undermine the ability of news publishers to draw audience.
X is planning to remove the headline and text while retaining just the lead image from links to news articles shared on the platform, Musk said in a post late on Monday.
Fortune had first reported the news on Monday, citing a source that the move was pushed directly by Musk.
The move is most likely an attempt by Musk to get users to spend more time on X and push them to opt for the subscription service for more details.
It is not immediately clear how the move will affect advertisers on the platform that Musk claimed in July had 540-million monthly users.
Currently news links come up on the timeline of users as “cards” along with an image, source address and an abridged headline. Such packaging helps draw clicks and helps publishers gain readers.
But with the shortened links, users might end up writing some text along with their posts and eventually they could consider X's premium service that allows a single post of up to 25,000 characters.
With the changes, Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers can now post longer videos, their posts are shown higher up and they also receive a cut of advertising sales.
Reuters
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