If you were browsing the web today and kept clicking on pictures that open links, you've not gone mad. It's just one of the new updates from X (formerly Twitter) that has removed headlines from links.
Reporting on the changes, Variety noted that these are among those CEO Elon Musk believed would “greatly improve aesthetics” for users on the platform. However, this has sparked conversations on whether it is part of Musk's mission to make the social media app disreputable.
After acquiring the company, Musk got to work by firing multiple staff members and making changes, including to the logo and name of the app. Since implementing these changes, the app has seen an increase in slurs like the N-word and uptick in problematic language towards trans people and women.
Tests to see if this change would work were already implemented in August as reported by The Guardian when five-second delays were reported. This move also targeted competitors including Substack which had its content marked unsafe, a move that was linked to the “Substack Notes” feature that is similar to X's community notes.
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