X Marks the Spot: Elon Musk Reverses Course, Brings Back News Headlines!
Elon Musk has revealed that headlines will be reinstated in news articles shared on X (formerly Twitter), reversing his previous decision made in October 2023. Initially, Musk had removed headlines to enhance the appearance of the preview window by reducing its height. However, this move faced criticism as users found it challenging to grasp the content of a URL solely through the header image.
Musk made the announcement yesterday in an X release where he said, “In an upcoming release, X will overlay the title URL card at the top of the image.” Interestingly, flipping doesn’t return the title back to its original position, but to the top of the link preview window, as in the post. It is unclear whether the font size and placement of the title will also change compared to before.
X to get the news headlines back in the link preview
A report published in October mentioned that the reason for the decision to remove the titles may have been an attempt to increase engagement on the platform. Earlier in the post, Musk said, “Our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X, so links don’t get as much attention because less time is spent if people click away. It’s best to post long-form content on this platform.” Musk also mentioned in a later post that this decision “significantly improves aesthetics.”
The update removing the titles first appeared on iOS and then on Android and the website. It is expected that the implementation of the cancellation will also take place in the same way. However, the timetable for this update has not yet been revealed.
X has received regular updates on a number of issues since Musk took over the company. Recently, the platform added a new way for its premium users to achieve higher reach on the platform. The new method involves adding a message to the Highlights tab. This tells the platform’s algorithm to automatically prioritize the message and forward it to more people. Musk said that this feature was introduced to encourage responses, and misuse of it could result in nullification of the effect.
