Elon Musk is known for introducing radical changes to the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter). In the past, he’s changed how the company works, its workforce, introduced a subscription model, and how it allows advertisers to operate. Now, the billionaire has hinted at yet another change that might hit X in the near future. At the Morgan Stanley tech, media, and telecom conference, Musk expressed his interest in removing the number of likes and reposts from X.
What Is The Problem With Likes And Reposts?
Per Musk, showcasing these metrics clutters the platform’s overall appearance. He could also mean that the number of likes and reposts immediately grabs attention, distracting users from what they’re looking for. Along with likes and reposts, he also wants to hide the number of replies from the timeline in order to refine the user experience. However, in response to a user’s tweet, Musk clarified that X will only show view count as a proxy for the other metrics on the timeline, which means that users should still be able to access other details when they tap into a post.
Musk Has Spoken About Removing The Metrics In 2023 As Well
According to a Forbes report, this is not the first time Musk has spoken about removing the metrics from X’s timeline or home page. Last year, in a subscriber-only post, he mentioned his plans to remove all the action buttons with their interaction counts from the main timeline to improve readability. Although the metrics help users recognize viral content, it could also lead to criticism, or what X users call being “ratioed.” The term refers to when a post has significantly more replies (or criticism) than reports (or endorsements).
Nonetheless, there’s no information as to when these changes will occur. For now, users can still see likes and reposts on X posts on the home page on mobile and web versions.
