The social media platform formerly known as Twitter, referred to as X, is considering a significant alteration in how news articles are presented on its service. This change involves removing headlines and text from news articles shared via tweets with links. This information was revealed from materials examined by Fortune.
Approximately four hours after this article's publication, Elon Musk validated these intentions by directly stating that this decision was from him. He also mentioned that this change would considerably enhance the visual appeal.
This modification implies that anyone who wants to share a link on X "“ whether individual users or publishers "“ would be required to manually add their own accompanying text alongside the links they share. Otherwise, the tweet would display only an image along with an overlay of the URL, devoid of any context. Despite this, clicking on the image would still lead to the complete article on the publisher's website. However, this change could have substantial consequences for publishers who depend on social media to drive traffic to their websites, as well as for advertisers.
A reliable source indicated that Elon Musk, the owner of X, is directly advocating for this change. The main objective seems to be reducing the vertical space occupied by tweets, thereby allowing more posts to fit within the visible portion of the timeline. Musk also believes that this alteration will help counter clickbait.
"It's something Elon wants. They were consulting with advertisers, who didn't approve of it, but it's happening," stated the source, adding that Musk perceives articles as taking up excessive space on the timeline. The platform has been struggling to retain advertisers, an issue that X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino has been actively addressing over the past eight weeks.
A notable transformation is anticipated at X:
In practice, when a user encounters a shared article on their timeline (referred to as a "Card" on X), it comprises various visual components: an image, a concise headline, and a brief article description. According to X's developer documentation, different types of "cards" exist, with news articles falling into the category labeled "summary with large image."
The "Cards" format was established years ago when tweets were restricted to 140 characters. As the text within the card doesn't count towards a tweet's character limit, the format became a crucial way to share content on Twitter without exceeding the character restriction.
However, since the headlines and other text within the cards are condensed to fit the format, the headlines often lack the depth of the complete article and, in the opinion of some critics, encourage brief, clickbait-style descriptions. By eliminating all content except the image, X's objective is to prompt individuals sharing this type of content to create more engaging posts.
Furthermore, since the premium version of the service now allows users to compose tweets with up to 25,000 characters in a single post for $8 per month, there's more space for media companies, advertisers, and journalists to provide more extensive context around an article, provided they're willing to pay for this privilege.
On a Monday post, Musk suggested that journalists seeking "greater freedom to write and higher income" should "publish directly on this platform!"
Although the call for longer posts might appear contradictory to the goal of fitting more tweets into the timeline, Musk has a history of managing Twitter with enigmatic, often seemingly conflicting moves.
"The majority of product decisions are made because it's something he wants or likes," the source remarked.
Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion the previous year, has a complex relationship with the media industry. In April, Musk labeled NPR and BBC as "state-controlled media," leading NPR to leave the platform entirely. Musk's efforts to remove content moderation rules and reinstate banned users, including former President Donald Trump, have alienated numerous prominent brand advertisers, many of whom have abandoned the service.
The proposed alterations to shared articles are currently undergoing internal testing, although it's unclear when they will be implemented for the public.
A sign of this upcoming change to the cards format was X's recent introduction of overlaying URL links on images when using the platform on mobile devices and removing the short description that is still visible on the web version. As of now, the article headline continues to appear on mobile.
It's important to note that when X made its algorithm open source, it was revealed that external links are often given lower priority unless they have significant engagement.
X did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment.