22-8-2023 (SAN FRANCISCO) Elon Musk is advocating for changes in the way news links are presented on his social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter. This potential shift could impact news publishers’ ability to attract and engage audiences.
Musk announced in a recent post that X intends to eliminate the headline and text portion of news article links shared on the platform, retaining only the lead image.
This move appears to be an effort by Musk to encourage users to spend more time on X and incentivize them to subscribe for additional content and details.
The full extent of the impact on advertisers remains unclear, especially given Musk’s earlier claim in July that X had 540 million monthly users.
Currently, news links are presented on users’ timelines as “cards,” including an image, source address, and a condensed headline. This format typically encourages clicks and helps publishers attract readers.
However, the new approach with truncated links may prompt users to add accompanying text to their posts. Eventually, this could lead users to consider X’s premium service, which allows for posts of up to 25,000 characters.
These changes position X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers gain benefits such as the ability to post longer videos, higher visibility for their posts, and a share of ad revenue.
