Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform (formerly known as Twitter), is preparing to make a significant change to how news article links appear on the platform.
According to a report by the American magazine Fortune, X platform is set to introduce a major alteration in the way links are displayed.
These new changes, as per the report, will result in links appearing with only the prominent image, without any accompanying headlines.
This move by X platform is aimed at bloggers, journalists, and news websites that rely on sharing links with followers to attract visits to their sites.
While the links will still function properly, concealing the headlines could potentially reduce click-through rates and decrease traffic from X platform to external sites, X platform aims to encourage bloggers and journalists to publish articles directly on the platform instead of sharing external links.
Musk advised journalists in a post on his personal account to consider publishing directly on the platform if they desire “greater writing freedom and higher income,” in his words.
If you’re a journalist who wants more freedom to write and a higher income, then publish directly on this platform!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2023
This development coincides with X platform’s launch of a profit-sharing program for content creators on the platform.
In recent days, the platform has deliberately slowed down the opening of external links and delayed access to well-known news websites and competing platforms such as Thrdz, Instagram, and Facebook.
X platform allows relatively long-form articles to be published, and content creators can benefit from the profit-sharing program if they subscribe to the X Premium service, previously known as Twitter Blue.
Musk is implementing significant changes on the platform he owns, aiming to transform it into a comprehensive application that offers various services, this effort also aims to increase user numbers and enhance engagement in the face of competing platforms, with Meta’s Thrdz platform at the forefront.
