Elon Musk’s X in its latest update scraps headlines from news articles

Twitter now known as X is removing headlines from news articles posted on the platform. The plan to remove the headlines was first announced in August when Musk announced that it came directly from him and it would improve the aesthetics.

Under the new design, when a user shares a link to a news article on X, only the lead image and URL of the article will be displayed. The headline and any other text will be removed. For headlines to appear, users sharing news posts will have to manually write them.

The move comes just days after Musk in one of posts called X an alternative to news outlets. He also argued that links posted on X doesn’t get much attention because X tries to optimize time spent on platform.

“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,” is what he wrote.

The new change has begun showing up on the mobile app of X but seemingly isn’t applicable on the web or desktop version yet. It will likely come to these platforms in coming weeks.

Elon Musk has said that the change is intended to “greatly improve the aesthetics” of the platform and to combat clickbait. He also believes that it will encourage users to read the full articles before sharing them.

The journalists from various organisations have expressed their discontent from the change. It is feared that the change will make it more difficult for users to understand the content of news articles before clicking on them. Many critics also worry that it will also encourage spread of misinformation on the platform.