Featured Image Credit: Marc Piasecki / Contributor / NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty
Elon Musk has been a controversial figures since he took over the social media giant Twitter, now known as X. So as you may expect, his latest decision has not met with universal praise.
Musk has a habit of tinkering with the way X works, which hasn't always gone down well with users, and his latest change has also divided people.
Some have welcomed the move, which he said is aimed to tackle ‘engagement farmers’.
This term is usually used in reference to accounts trying to gather replies and likes on social media by using a manipulative tactics to make their account more popular.
Advert
Often these accounts do not offer any real value and may contain stolen, manipulated or false content.
On top of that, Musk is also removing the feature because he thinks it's unsightly, adding 'my eyes are bleeding'.
The option to use bold or italic text in posts that appear on other user’s timelines is being removed. Musk also said in a post on X that ‘any other formatting’ would also be removed.
In order to see the formatting on a post, users will have to click on ‘post details’.
Due to immediate and excessive use of bold font on 𝕏, it will be removed from view in the main timeline.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2024
You will have to click on post details to see anything in bold. My eyes are bleeding.
The response to the announcement was mixed. One user said: “Timeline looked like a mess with everything in bold.” Another simply wrote: “Thank you.”
Not everyone was quite so pleased, however. Some users countered with what they believe are better ways to counteract the problem. One user said: “Why not just make a setting so you personally don’t have to see bold font? Some accounts like to see bold font otherwise they miss a post because it blends into the echo chamber.”
Others users said that the overabundance of bold fonts might not be deliberate. One reported: “People say they're not doing it on purpose, seems like there's been some weird glitch.” Another said: “Is so true! It happens to me as well. I highly dislike it. AI is correcting the grammar with bold font. It’s so funny.”
Others went for a more humorous approach, and complemented Musk on a ‘bold choice’.
Among the other changes Elon Musk has introduced since taking over Twitter include charging users for premium features, revealing plans to hide public likes for all users, tweaking the site's rules to formally allow adult content, and launching a Stories feature with news summarized by AI.
UNILAD has contacted X for a comment.
