Elon Musk continues to shake things up at the platform formerly known as Twitter, with the controversial CEO announcing that X will soon get rid of likes and repost counters in the feed view.
Musk has been quick to announce big changes to the popular social media platform. Even worse, he's been following through with a lot of these announcements, altering the very fabric of Twitter/X that made it such a hotbed for discussion.
Now, another big change is coming down the pipeline for the platform, and users continue to ask themselves, “Do I even like X?”
Musk Alludes to No More Likes, Reposts in Feed
If you follow X or Elon Musk news, you know that the source is always the controversial CEO's own post, and that is indeed the case this time. Replying to a paid subscriber's post (which means you can't see it unless you pay for X), Musk noted that “those ugly URL cards with repetitive text were making my eyes bleed,” and that he has a solution.
“We'll remove all the action buttons with their superfluous interaction counts from the main timeline.” – Elon Musk in an X post
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That's right, the only visible metric for posts will be the “views” counter, another addition since the Musk takeover last year.
Don't worry, though, the like and repost counters won't be gone for good. You'll still be able to see how many people are liking and reposting your tweets, but you'll have to actually click on it to see the counters in action.
Why Get Rid of Likes and Reposts?
A lot of the changes to X have come directly from Musk, who has been vocal about the reason behind each one. So, why is X getting rid of likes and reports in the feed view?
“This will greatly improve readability.” – Elon Musk in an X post
This isn't the first time Musk has used readability as a reason to dramatically change the platform. In fact, he announced that the platform would be getting rid of headlines on posts, a change that went into effect just this week.
The headline change has already had some negative consequences, with some users posting articles with fake headlines, confusing readers and manifesting community notes at breakneck speed. So, how could the lack of like and repost counters backfire?
How Will This Impact Users?
While the lack of headlines could cause some issues in the long run, the reality is that a lack of like and repost counters in the feed view likely won't have a big impact on usage.
In fact, some studies have shown that hiding social media metrics such as likes can actually have a positive impact on mental health, negating the pressure of doing well on your favorite platforms.
Whether or not Musk is aware of this remains to be seen, but rest assured, it certainly won't be the last big change to X under his leadership.
