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 an 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 (August 21), according to a Reuters report.
The move is 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 impact 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 ad sales.
‘Ramayana’ producer Malhotra likens film to ‘Avatar’, ‘LOTR’, ‘Odyssey’
Bombay HC protects ‘Ramayana’ from piracy
CEO Jassy says Prime Video gains profit; bullish on ad momentum
JioStar Q2 revenue up 10.1% to Rs 6,806cr. despite weak ad environ
Google brings AI Mode ads to India, 9 other markets
Of Jio listing, tears, party…and RIL’s combined $320bn market cap
ITU says despite 6.3bn people now online digital divide persists
Eros Innovation, Tourism Ministry sign pact for 50 promo films
Is Jio exploring tech-for-equity deals with US’ Comcast, Charter Comms?
Much anticipated ‘Ramayana’ targets Rs 75-100cr. opening
NBCUniversal invests in microdrama platform Story TV’s parent EloElo 

