Links and press articles shared on the social network X are now displayed only in the form of images, without a title or description, a disappearance that Elon Musk justifies with “aesthetic” considerations, AFP and Agerpres reported on Thursday.
The general interface change of platform X, formerly Twitter, implemented between October 3 and 4, was already noticed by some media companies during the test phase that took place in mid-August.
Then Elon Musk made this decision:
“This is coming straight from me. The aesthetics (of the social network) will be greatly improved,” he announced in a message posted on X.
When a user shares an article in the press, the lower left corner of the image still only shows the name of the company that published it as an illustration, and clicking on the image opens access to the content of the article.
Elon Musk, who bought the social network last year, is trying to stem the steep decline in the platform’s ad revenue by encouraging users to spend more time on the platform and thus share fewer external links.
Elon Musk says he is not interested in “traditional media”
The South African-born billionaire, who also owns Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, has also been accused of being hostile to the media, and several companies in the sector have announced their exit from the X platform.
On October 3, Elon Musk said that he “practically never reads traditional media.”
“What interest would I have in reading 1,000 words about something that was already shared on X a few days ago?” he asked rhetorically.
However, in September 2023, the European Commission published a study which found that Platform X, which in May withdrew from the EU code of best practice on disinformation, was the platform with the “highest level of false information and disinformation in published messages”. including regarding the war in Ukraine.
This summer, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and three other French media groups filed a lawsuit in French courts against Company X, which they want to obtain the elements that will allow them to negotiate royalties for the use of the content. them, including those that are published in the form of fragments.
Source: Hot News
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