Elon Musk is seeking to make his subsequent large change on the platform previously often known as Twitter, with Musk reiterating his plan to take away the reply, like and re-share buttons from X posts in-feed, leaving solely the overall view rely and time posted.

As you’ll be able to see in these examples, on the left is the present publish format on X, with the engagement buttons alongside the underside of the publish. Quickly, based on Musk, X will swap to the publish format on the best, with no motion buttons in-stream, and solely the view rely and publish time displayed on the high proper.

Musk says that it will make the feed “very clear”, whereas X can even implement new motion controls to answer posts:

• Swipe proper to answer
• Swipe left to Like
• Faucet and maintain for all different actions

Musk says that the entire common publish metrics will nonetheless be viewable if a consumer faucets into a person publish. However in-feed, you’ll solely see the best instance.

Which is able to undoubtedly affect X’s engagement metrics, and we all know this, as a result of it’s already occurred throughout previous Twitter experiments.

Again in 2020, within the lead-up to the U.S. election, Twitter truly eliminated the choice to retweet a publish solely for U.S. customers, referring folks to cite tweet as an alternative, as a part of a broader effort to fight the amplification of false reviews. Which labored, with Twitter later reporting that it helped to scale back the unfold of false claims, although it additionally brought on a 20% discount in tweet sharing total.

Primarily based on this, it could make truly sense for X to take away the retweet button, or disguise it behind an additional click on, with a purpose to sluggish the amplification of deceptive reviews. However it should additionally cut back X’s utilization metrics, which might affect total platform sentiment.

Possibly Elon Musk doesn’t care about that, and perhaps, the precise end result can be higher ultimately. However both method, it should have an effect,

For context, again in October, X reported that, of the five hundred million posts that the app facilitates day-after-day, 300 million of them are quotes and reposts.

The vast majority of X engagement comes by way of interplay with different posts, quotes and re-posts, and eradicating these as up entrance choices on posts goes to scale back that engagement.

And if folks like posts much less typically consequently, that’ll additionally imply that X has much less interplay information to go on, with a purpose to personalize feeds, whereas any discount in replies can even affect creators in X’s advert income sharing program.

I’d guess that each one of those metrics are going to take successful on account of them being much less seen, whereas not having the ability to see a reply rely in-stream can even lower the chance that customers will faucet via to search out out what persons are saying.

So actually, it’ll possible be a two-pronged affect: For one, it will cut back engagement within the app, however on the identical time, perhaps that’s factor, when it comes to total engagement well being.

Nevertheless it’s X that must promote that to those that’ll query why its utilization stats are declining.

Actually, like most of Musk’s modifications, it looks like an pointless step, however then once more, Twitter by no means actually made cash, and issues want to alter with a purpose to re-align the platform in a distinct path.

I’m undecided that this transformation can be for the higher, nevertheless it’s all a part of Elon’s grander imaginative and prescient for the app, which is able to ultimately see it change into his “every little thing app” that caters for all types of use circumstances and capabilities.

However proper now at the least, development on X just isn’t going effectively.

Regardless of Elon and X CEO Linda Yaccarino making numerous claims about “report utilization”, X additionally hasn’t added any new customers in over a 12 months. It’s doable that these remaining within the app are spending extra time there, and X nonetheless stays the best choice for actual time dialogue in most niches. However I wouldn’t say that the platform is enhancing, and as these numbers stagnate, X is unlikely to lure again its key advert companions.

If X engagement additionally declines, that’s one other not-so-positive sign, irrespective of how X tries to border it.

And with X advert income nonetheless down by 50% since Musk took over, the platform continues to be not earning money, even with drastic workers cuts.

At some stage, that can change into a extra important concern, as a result of even with Elon being among the many richest folks on the earth, there can be questions as to how lengthy you retain pouring cash right into a enterprise that provides no return.

On this context, altering X publish engagement buttons is one other dangerous transfer. Nevertheless it’s additionally completely consistent with Musk’s Icarian administration method.