Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is testing a series of major changes to how it handles external links on the iOS app, with the goal of keeping users longer and increasing the level of interaction with posts.
Previously, when users clicked on a link in an article, the web browser would open the entire screen, completely obscuring the original post. This causes most users to leave X immediately after accessing the link, significantly reducing the number of likes, comments and shares.
To fix this, X is experimenting with shrinking the original post to the bottom of the page instead of letting the link take up the entire screen. In this way, the like, answer and re-post buttons are still displayed, encouraging users to continue interacting without leaving the application.
Observers say the move is in line with Elon Musk's vision of turning X into a super app, where users can read news, watch videos, chat, pay and shop without having to go out.
Another problem that X is solving is that posts containing links are often ineffective and are less widely recommended by the system.
In a new post, Elon Musk said the platform will refresh its content suggestion algorithm, reducing the impact of likes and comments, instead letting AI Grok read and understand the content of each post, including more than 100 million videos per day, thereby connecting users to the topic they are really interested in.
Musk said the transition would take four to six weeks, and could help expand reach to small accounts with few followers.
If successful, this change will not only improve the user experience but also strengthen Elon Musk's ambition to make X the central platform for all online activities.
