Elon Musk’s X has scrapped headlines on links posted on the social media in a bid to improve the look of the site.
Links on X, which was previously called Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), began appearing merely as an image on iOS and desktop devices on Wednesday, with text in the left-hand corner indicating the domain of the link.
Musk had hinted to the changes in August, tweeting at the time: “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.”
The move comes as part of a wider effort by Musk to redesign the site, with the name change to ‘X’ having taken place in July.
Musk has also previously encouraged users to post news directly onto the site, rather than through links, following on from what seems to be an increasingly hostile stance on news organisations.
According to the Washington Post, a deliberate five-second delay had been placed on links to some sites in August, including to the likes of the New York Times, Reuters and Instagram.
He has also slated traditional news reporting, arguing that information appeared on X faster than on external websites.
I almost never read legacy news anymore.
What’s the point of reading 1000 words about something that was already posted on ???? several days ago?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2023