X, formerly Twitter, now hides headline text in shared links

X, a platform led by Elon Musk formerly known as Twitter, has begun to remove the text from the headlines in the links posted by its users. The new function began in the mobile versions of the social network and progressively in the web version. The publications now remain as seen in the screenshot: a simple image, which includes the news, and above the photo only the name of the website. It is difficult to distinguish messages that have a link from those that are simply a photo.

Musk had already warned in August that he was going to make this decision. This Tuesday he wrote this message in response to a graph of the drop in traffic that Facebook and X send to the media: “Our algorithm tries to optimize the time spent on people click and leave. The best thing is to post long content on this platform.” Musk’s stated intention is to turn X into a destination social network, like YouTube or TikTok, where users consume all content there. The news, in long posts, not in external links.

Therefore, there is no doubt that those most harmed by this decision will be the media and journalists, who were a substantial group within the network. In addition to being punished by the algorithm for posting links, they must now use the scant text of the message to write the headline. Unless they are paying users, which allows the publications to be expanded.

Musk does not hide his contempt for the general media. Also this Tuesday he answered “yes” to a user with barely two thousand followers who said: “X will be the new traditional media. People are hungry for the truth and freedom of expression. “People are tired of lies and agendas.” Just a few days before, Musk had gone to the US border with Mexico to broadcast a live broadcast on his platform. It was his way of promoting, he said, “citizen journalism.”

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