Elon Musk removes the titles of press articles shared on X (formerly Twitter)

The links and press articles shared on the X platform (formerly Twitter) now only appear in the form of an image, without title or description, a disappearance justified by Elon Musk for “aesthetic” reasons, noted AFP Thursday.

The generalized interface change between October 3 and 4 had already been spotted by certain media during a test phase in mid-August. Elon Musk then assumed it: “This comes directly from me. The aesthetics (of the social network) will be greatly improved,” he wrote.

When a user shares a press article, only the name of the media that published it still appears in the lower left corner of the illustrative image, and clicking on the image allows access to the content. The article title and introduction, which previously appeared on this clickable thumbnail, have disappeared.

Elon Musk, who bought the social network last year, is trying to stem the fall in advertising revenue by encouraging users to spend more time on the platform, and therefore to share less external links.

“Our algorithm seeks to increase the time spent on X, so the links are less visible,” Elon Musk explained to a user. “The best thing to do on this platform is to publish content in long format”, a feature of the paid version of X which allows you to overcome the limit of 250 characters per tweet.

The billionaire at the head of Tesla and Starlink is accused of having a hostile attitude towards the media, several of whom have announced they are withdrawing from the platform.

On October 3, Elon Musk said he “almost never consults the traditional press. What’s the point of reading 1000 words about something that was already shared on X several days earlier?”

In September, the European Commission revealed a study showing that platform and disinformation in its publications.

This summer, Twitter was also brought before the French courts by Agence France Presse (AFP) and three French press groups, who wish to obtain information allowing them to negotiate remuneration for the use of their content, including under form of extracts.