Elon Musk recently announced his intention to change how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. It will potentially remove headlines and text from news articles shared on the platform, according to an Aug. 22 report on Reuters.
"X is planning to remove the headline and text while retaining just the lead image from links to news articles shared on the platform," the Reuters report noted.
This move aims to encourage users to spend more time on X and possibly opt for the subscription service. It's unclear how this change might impact advertisers on the platform, which Musk reportedly stated had 540 million monthly users in July, Reuters reported.
Musk is advocating for a transformation in the presentation of news links within his social media platform X, which potentially poses a challenge to news outlets seeking to attract readers, Reuters said in its report. X is devising a strategy to discard the headline and textual components, retaining solely the primary image from linked news articles shared on the platform.
The implications of this alteration on advertisers are yet to be fully understood. Currently, news links manifest on users' timelines as "cards," complete with an image, source URL and a concise headline. This packaging approach has been effective in enticing clicks and aiding publishers in amassing readership, according to Reuters.
However, the introduction of truncated links might potentially prompt users to supplement text to their posts, eventually piquing interest in X's premium service that permits posts of up to 25,000 characters, the Reuters report said. By implementing these changes, Musk is reportedly positioning X to be a more pertinent space for content creators. Subscribers to the premium tier can now share lengthier videos, enjoy heightened visibility for their posts and also earn a share of advertising proceeds.
