Elon Musk has continued to adopt controversial design decisions amid his rebuild of X, formerly known as Twitter, that will either help him bring about his vision for the platform’s future or scare users away.
Musk announced several future changes to X that have drawn the attention of the public. These decisions often appeared sudden and were announced through sudden tweets by Musk himself, making it unclear how planned or communicated they were with the rest of X’s leadership team. These decisions include eliminating the block button, removing news headlines, and even limiting access to third-party websites. Musk has regularly stated that his end goal is to turn X into an “everything app” but it remains unclear if his current vision as presented will help him reach that goal.
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Here are the latest ways Musk is changing X into his own vision.
Removal of Twitter block
Musk tweeted on Aug. 18 that he would remove the ability to block users or stop them from interacting with a user’s account. He claimed that it “makes no sense” and instead encouraged users to merely “mute” accounts, a feature that hides an account’s posts from being seen.
Users instantly slammed the feature change. “The block feature is the best feature on this site,” Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway responded.
The block feature is the best feature on this site. It is what enables me to enjoy my time here.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 18, 2023
Musk’s decision may run into a wall as several app stores, including Apple and Android, require platforms to allow users to block others. If the billionaire were to strip away the feature, it could lead to Apple removing X from its store.
Musk appears willing to use the block button despite wanting to remove it. He blocked the actor James Woods after complaining that removing the block button would make X “untenable” for people like himself “who are willing to share their identities.”
News headline removal
Musk announced on Tuesday that he intends to remove headlines from news articles on the platform. If a link is currently posted to X, it will have a headline, a picture, a summary, and a link. If Musk’s update goes through, the headline will be removed, further limiting user ability to see the contents before clicking. The billionaire’s reasoning for the choice is to reduce the size of news content on the platform and to display more posts in the process, according to Fortune.
Musk also claimed this feature would “greatly improve the esthetics [sic].” The few remaining advertisers who lingered on the platform opposed the design decision, but Musk went through with it regardless.
Throttled links
Users reported on Aug. 15 that links to certain websites were “throttled” or slowed down. Links to the New York Times, Reuters, Instagram, Bluesky, and Mastodon were on a five-second delay. X eventually reversed the throttling of news content but kept it up for competitors. The platform has not commented on why specific links were throttled.
Everything App?
Musk’s end goal for the app continues to be converting X into an “everything app” akin to China’s WeChat. The billionaire posted a new clip promoting this vision on Wednesday.
Twitter filed paperwork in November 2022 with the Treasury Department to allow X to incorporate the financial technology required to process online transactions. It has also embraced audio and visual hosting, improved DMs, and other developments in an effort to resemble an all-in-one stop for technological needs.
If Musk intends to pivot Twitter toward his vision of an everything app, he will need to figure out how to improve its revenue stream soon. Musk confirmed in July that Twitter’s ad revenue, considered to be its primary source of money, had dropped 50% in the last year. The company has “negative cash flow” as well as “heavy debt,” Musk said.
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Musk hired former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino to lead the company in his stead and to promote his vision for the app. Yaccarino has fully embraced Musk’s notion of an everything app, telling staff that they’re “writing history, and there’s no limit to [X’s] transformation.”
