Elon Musk is leaving no stone unturned to transform Twitter, aka X. Since the acquisition, the billionaire has been trying to revamp the platform with the introduction of new features and policy changes. When he bought the platform for $44 billion, X started to lose advertising revenue as advertisers started to pull their advertisements from X. So Musk has been employing multiple tactics to increase the plummeting revenue.
Elon Musk introduced the $8 per month subscription to provide blue ticks to the users. However, he had to relaunch the feature after people started impersonating real celebrities. He introduced exclusive features to the subscribers, including the extension of the word limit on the platform. Despite all the new measures, Musk is trying to attract more subscribers to increase revenue. In a new move, he has decided to limit the content of a new piece on X by removing the headlines.
Elon Musk Confirms The News About Axing The News Article Headlines On X
Twitter, now known as X, is going through a major overhaul. Elon Musk is bringing many UI and internal changes to the platform to keep it financially afloat. Recently, he started the process of transforming Twitter into an all-in-one app called X. Now, to make it more monetarily viable, Musk will remove the headlines from news articles.
This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2023
Fortune announced the news that Elon Musk will strip the headlines and other texts from a news article, keeping only the article’s image. Musk confirmed the news, writing, “This is coming from me directly,” and the new decision “will greatly improve the esthetics.”
As per the new decision, if any individual wants to share an article link on X, the person has to add the text manually. If not, the tweet will only appear with an image with no context and the URL.
As per a source closer to Fortune, the main objective of this change is to curb the height of the tweets and help them fit into the layout of the platform. The move will also help reduce clickbait articles. The decision does not sit well with the advertisers, but the billionaire is going ahead with the decision despite plummeting advertisement revenue.
In Case You Missed: Elon Musk Announces To Revoke Ban Feature On X, Users Raise Concerns
How Will The Move Help The Former CEO To Gain Revenue?
Elon Musk is currently focusing on bringing revenue to the platform after the majority of advertisers pulled out of advertising on X. The platform is suffering a huge setback in monetary terms. Recently, the Tesla owner pushed for a conducive environment for premium subscription content creators by allowing them to earn through ad sales.
Normally, the format of a news article on X consists of an image, a short headline, and a short description of the article. The articles shared on X are called cards. Earlier, cards had a limit of only 140 characters. The additional text and headline were not interlinked, as the limit was applied to the latter.
However, in recent times, due to the limitations faced by the limited characters, the articles lacked clarity, leading to a large number of clickbait articles. The new move will force users to give better context to the article. The $8-per-month subscription gives users 25,000 characters. So, it is also a move to get more and more users to take up the subscription if they have to add more context to an article.
You Might Also Like To Read: Is Elon Musk Trying To Compete With LinkedIn? The Former CEO Of X Will Help Users To Find Jobs On The Platform
