X, formerly Twitter, stops showing news story headlines – users react

5 October, 2023

The official X (formerly known as Twitter) logo

X, formerly known as Twitter, has stopped displaying news story headlines on the platform for some users.

The social media site – which Elon Musk bought last year for $44billion – currently shows just the main image included in the article, as well as a link to the website it was published by in the bottom left-hand corner.

Prior to this latest update, users were able to see the full headline – or a headline that had been adapted for social media – above a short description that provided further information about the piece in question. These were known as ‘Cards‘.

The change came into effect yesterday (Wednesday, October 4) for iOS and desktop users. According to The Guardian, the new appearance does not apply to advertisement links on X.

The plan to remove headlines had been in the works since August. Following the initial reports about the update, Musk tweeted: “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.”

He said earlier: “If you’re a journalist who wants more freedom to write and a higher income, then publish directly on this platform!”

Recent reports indicate that traffic for media publishers has declined from X/Twitter since Musk’s takeover, which has seen the tech billionaire make a range of controversial changes.

It is said that X/Twitter briefly put a five-second delay on loading links to online news outlets and rivals to the site including Reuters, The New York Times and Instagram over the summer.

On Tuesday (October 3) Musk posted: “I almost never read legacy news anymore. What’s the point of reading 1000 words about something that was already posted on X several days ago?”

He explained in a separate update: “Our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X, so links don’t get as much attention, because there is less time spent if people click away.

“Best thing is to post content in long form on this platform.”

The move could be an attempt to persuade people to sign up for X Premium, which allows subscribers to post up to 25,000 characters and access a range of other advantages. With the removal of headlines, users may need to include more text to accompany their posts.

Following the scrapping of headlines, Musk shared a post in which he said he believes “citizen journalism is the path to [a] better future”, adding: “I strongly encourage people around the world to post news about events as they’re happening, in both text & video.”

Numerous media figures have since criticised Musk’s latest adaptation to the feed. Tom Warren, Senior Editor at The Verge, wrote: “You can no longer see the headlines of articles linked on Twitter (X) anymore.

“It’s just an image. It’s the latest in a long line of dumb changes on this platform.”

PC Gamer, meanwhile, highlighted a series of its posts that appeared without context due to their missing headlines. “Here’s a few of our gems/victims of the new change,” the caption to the humorous screenshots read.

Steve Boxer, a gaming writer for The Guardian, said: “Didn’t realise that Musk’s new Twitter is already stripping out headlines in links to articles. What a shit-show. Will have to add them manually from now on.”

Another person commented: “Musk seems determined to make Twitter a less useful, a less usable, and a less pleasant place to be. Latest is the removal of headlines from linked posts.

“Dreadful move. He’s confusing minutes spent doom scrolling with utility/value. It’s not.”

Last month, Musk said that X would likely start charging its users a subscription fee in the near future. He also recently suggested that Taylor Swift should share her music directly onto the site.

Meanwhile, X has been sued under its X Corp title by a Florida-based legal marketing company that claims that the platform’s rebrand infringes its trademark.

The post X, formerly Twitter, stops showing news story headlines – users react appeared first on NME.