X stops showing headlines after Musk update demand
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Elon Musk arrives on Capitol Hill last month. Photo: Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images
X began removing news links and headlines from posts in a major overhaul of the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Driving the news: Elon Musk said in August the changes were "coming from me directly" and they would "greatly improve" the aesthetics of the site. Users now click on images to access news reports posted to X.
The big picture: News outlets and other companies have long posted links to social media sites to drive traffic to their own websites in order to monetize user attention themselves, per Axios' Sara Fischer.
- Musk insists "links don't get as much attention," but some journalists and other X users have noted it could cause confusion and decrease attention to links or make posts without headlines look like memes.
Go deeper: Musk says X will charge everyone to use the platform
