Elon Musk’s social platform change angers journalists.
Elon Musk’s Controversial Plan to Change News Links on X
Elon Musk recently announced his intention to revolutionize how news links appear on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). This announcement immediately sparked backlash from publishers and journalists.
According to Musk, X plans to remove the headline and text from news article links posted on the platform, instead focusing solely on the lead image. In a tweet, he stated, “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics (sic).”
Related Stories
Currently, news links on X appear as “cards” on users’ timelines, featuring an image, source address, and a condensed headline. This packaging helps attract clicks and allows publishers to reach more readers. However, with the proposed changes, users may need to include additional text in their posts alongside the shortened links.
Musk aims to position X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers now have the ability to post longer videos, their posts receive higher visibility, and they also receive a percentage of ad sales.
Speculation suggests that these changes could encourage users to spend more time on X and become subscribers, rather than seeking external content. It is also believed that the shortened news posts could allow more content to appear on each user’s timeline.
“This change would be disastrous for journalism, particularly independent journalism, which means democracy,” warns Jeff Sharlet, a journalism professor at Dartmouth College and bestselling author.
Dustin Walsh, a reporter for Crains Business Detroit, predicts that the planned change will likely drive more news outlets away from X.
However, Musk seems to encourage journalists to publish their content directly on X instead of relying on external news websites. In a post, he stated that journalists who desire “more freedom to write” and “higher income” should publish their articles directly on the platform.
These developments come shortly after Musk announced that X will be removing the ability for users to block unwanted followers, which received negative reactions. Some users argue that this feature is necessary to prevent harassment.
While there are differing opinions on these changes, Musk remains confident that a new and improved version of the block feature will be introduced. Only time will tell how these alterations will impact X and its user base.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...