News articles shared on Twitter will no lonNews articles shared on Twitter will no longer display headlines – Elon Musk thinks it will ‘improve aesthetics’!ger display headlines – Elon Musk thinks it will ‘improve aesthetics’!

In a new update, X, formerly known as Twitter, has made a significant change by no longer displaying headlines for articles shared on the social media platform, and the reason for this is ‘aesthetics’.

This change, implemented on Wednesday for iOS and desktop users, presents links posted on X as the featured image of the article along with the domain name, devoid of any accompanying headline. Users interested in reading the full article must now click on the image to access the content.

Musk, who has been a driving force behind the recent changes on X, stated in a tweet back in August, “This is coming from me directly. Will greatly improve the esthetics.”

While the move seems to be aimed at creating a visually streamlined experience, it has raised concerns among users and journalists alike. The biggest impact of this change is its potential implication for news organisations and publishers.

Without headlines displayed below shared images, posts lack context, making it essential for users to either include the headline as the text of the post or within the shared image.

This shift in presentation could alter how media companies engage with X, prompting them to reconsider their content-sharing strategies.

Musk’s reason behind this change is that he believes this will combat clickbait and encourage users to engage more deeply with the content before sharing it.

According to Variety, Musk has routinely displayed antagonism toward media outlets and supported “citizen journalists” posting text, audio and video directly to the platform. “Citizen journalism breaks the monopoly held by a handful of editors – they naturally don’t like that,” he tweeted in May.

However, this might raise concerns about the potential spread of misinformation on the platform, as the absence of headlines might lead to a lack of context and understanding for shared articles.