X to retrieve news headlines in link previews: Elon Musk

Elon Musk has announced that news articles shared on X (formerly Twitter) will again include headlines rather than just the image in the URL card. This move reverses a controversial decision from October 2023, when headlines were removed from news articles shared on the platform to reduce the height of the preview window and improve aesthetics. At the time, many users complained that it would be difficult to contextualize the content of a URL with just the header image.

Musk announced yesterday in a post on X: "In an upcoming release, X will overlay title in the upper portion of the image of a URL card." Interestingly, according to the post, the revert will not return the title to its original position but rather to the top of the link preview window. It is still being determined if the font size and title placement will also change.

X to retrieve news headlines in link previews

In October, a report mentioned that the reason behind removing headlines could be an attempt to boost engagement on the platform. Previously, Musk said in a post: "Our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X, so links don't get as much attention, because there is less time spent if people click away. Best thing is to post content in long form on this platform." Musk also mentioned in a later post that this decision would "greatly improve the esthetics."

The update to remove the headlines appeared first on iOS, Android, and the website. The reversal is also expected to occur in the same way. However, no timeline for this update has been revealed so far.