Elon Musk has unveiled a significant update to the user interface of the X platform, which will soon see all interaction buttons and actions disappear from feeds, except for the view counter introduced in December upon Musk’s request, these buttons will only be visible when expanding a post.
This move aims to reduce user interactions with posts, reminiscent of Instagram’s 2019 experiment to hide like counts, research has shown a noticeable decrease in overall interactions for influencer participants in the test, although there are no direct behavioral benchmarks to illustrate user behavior changes. Similar effects on overall reshare activities are expected as peer actions influence wider behaviors.
PREVIEW: X will remove the interaction counts (likes, reposts) from the main timeline, leaving only view counts. You will be able to see these numbers when you tap into a post.
The intent of this is to improve readability. pic.twitter.com/RMbypx3bwh
— X News Daily (@xDaily) October 6, 2023
Likes and retweets play a pivotal role in post visibility, according to X’s open-source algorithm, this change may potentially harm many influencers on the platform who rely on maximum engagement to boost their advertising revenue.
Instagram also noted that people often use like counts to gauge popularity, an aspect that could be affected by their removal, X is a hub for real-time interaction and trends, making it a significant factor in this context.
The removal of quick-response options may lead to reduced usage, as X previously revealed that the majority of its activity occurs through resharing and quoting. Consequently, this change might lead to an overall decrease in platform activity.
Additionally, this alteration may impact post sharing, with the potential decrease in emphasis on the share icon also reducing discussion and broader interaction.
Nevertheless, this move may help curb the spread of fake news, as previous research has shown that ease of resharing significantly amplifies false information, X currently sees 500 million daily shares, with 300 million of them in the form of reposts.
The benefits of this change also include a reduced focus on metrics, with reach becoming the primary focus, it may lead to an increased emphasis on the content of the post itself.
X has also indicated its intention to add more gesture-based controls as alternatives to buttons, such as double-tap to like and swipe to reply.
