X: The social network prevents the proper distribution of certain media content

X: The social network prevents the proper distribution of certain media content

Last week, a report revealed that X, formerly Twitter, was breaking the visibility of links from rival social networks, but also from media that X CEO Elon Musk doesn't hold dear. A way of doing things that goes against the grain of the freedom of expression advocated by X.

Lack of distribution: what impact on posts?

The answer is in the question. X does not feed one account in the same way as another. More concretely, this deliberate sabotage slows down link loading times, causing the community to lose interest in media articles.

On the subject, the Washington post explains:

"The delay has affected the t.coa link shortening service that X uses to process each link posted to the website. Traffic is routed through the domain, allowing X to track and, in this case, limit activity to the target website, potentially reducing traffic and advertising revenue for companies Musk personally dislikes."

X's answer:

Following publication of the performance report directly incriminating X and its questionable choices, the social network gave no response. However, the problematic links have been updated, and the latency times removed. Although we could believe that this was a simple error on X's part, it's important to understand that the media affected were newspapers criticized by Elon Musk, such as The New York Times, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.

A changing algorithm :

In addition to this problem of media visibility, there's also an algorithm that has undergone major updates, playing a predominant role in the reach of posts including an external link. This restriction is annoying for the media, but even more so for competing social networks, since Elon Musk has confirmed that he is limiting their visibility. A decision he has no intention of reversing.

X, what results?

Although it's too early to make any real reports, Elon Musk has claimed that the platform is recording a record rate, provoking a strong return of advertisers to the social network.