San Francisco, CA – According to recent reports, Twitter is planning to stop displaying article headlines when links are shared on the platform. The move is part of CEO Elon Musk’s effort to incentivize journalists to publish content directly on Twitter.
Headlines, images, and article previews have allowed users to get a glimpse of news stories before clicking links. Removing previews would leave only bare URLs in tweets and force readers to visit sites to view headlines.
Musk believes this could increase user engagement on Twitter by freeing up space to display more tweets in feeds. Additionally, he wants to entice media outlets to create content within Twitter by limiting traffic to external sites.
On his account, Musk suggested journalists can “have more freedom to write” and earn “higher income” by publishing directly to Twitter instead of news sites. However, Twitter currently needs more monetization for creators beyond inconsistent ad revenue sharing.
The potential headline ban has raised concerns amongst media companies who rely on Twitter for considerable traffic and ad revenue. Advertisers have also resisted the change, but Musk appears set on implementing it anyway.
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Critics argue removing headlines will degrade the user experience and incorrectly incentivize publishing on a platform unfit for long-form journalism. This aligns with Musk’s other recent efforts to reduce clicks to competing sites like Instagram and the New York Times.
The elimination of article previews would mark Musk’s latest disruptive shift since acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022. Thus far, his changes, including firing executives and instituting $8 monthly subscription fees, have proven controversial.
It remains to be seen whether Musk can transform Twitter into a hub for quality journalism and incentivize direct publishing. For now, media outlets are bracing for significant traffic declines if headlines are stripped from links. The policy’s full impact on publishers, creators, and users will become clearer as Musk continues his radical overhaul of Twitter.
