X, formerly Twitter, stops showing news story headlines – users react

nme.com:

Twitter, has stopped displaying news story headlines on the platform for some users.The social media site – which Elon Musk bought last year for $44billion – currently shows just the main image included in the article, as well as a link to the website it was published by in the bottom left-hand corner.Prior to this latest update, users were able to see the full headline – or a headline that had been adapted for social media – above a short description that provided further information about the piece in question.

These were known as ‘Cards‘.The change came into effect yesterday (Wednesday, October 4) for iOS and desktop users. According to The Guardian, the new appearance does not apply to advertisement links on X.The plan to remove headlines had been in the works since August.

Following the initial reports about the update, Musk tweeted: “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.”He said earlier: “If you’re a journalist who wants more freedom to write and a higher income, then publish directly on this platform!”This is coming from me directly.

Will greatly improve the esthetics.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2023Recent reports indicate that traffic for media publishers has declined from X/Twitter since Musk’s takeover, which has seen the tech billionaire make a range of controversial changes.It is said that X/Twitter briefly put a five-second delay on loading links to online news outlets and rivals to the site including Reuters, The New York Times and Instagram over the summer.On Tuesday (October 3) Musk posted: “I almost never read legacy news anymore.