The issue of social media links driving users away from the platform has been a longstanding challenge. A new solution is being tested by Elon Musk’s X. The aim is to retain users on the app even as they navigate away to external links.
Users of X on iOS may soon observe a change when they tap on links within the app. Rather than entirely exiting the current post, the link will launch without obscuring the original post and its interactive features such as like, reply and repost buttons.
Nikita Bier, the Head of Product, described the change as a strategy to maintain user engagement. Currently, full-screen opening of links often results in users not returning to the original post to engage, a practice that negatively impacts engagement metrics.
With this alteration, rather than the webpage taking over the entire screen, the initial post will minimize to the bottom of the screen, allowing users to continue to interact with it. This minor modification aligns with Musk’s broader objective for X – to develop an “everything app” where users can read, shop, converse and browse without ever needing to exit the app.
Traditionally, posts containing links have shown lower performance compared to regular ones on X and beyond. The newly proposed design is aimed at rectifying this by retaining users within the app rather than redirecting them to a browser tab. Consequently, this will aid the algorithm in better understanding the user’s content preferences.
Recently, Elon Musk disclosed plans to enhance X’s recommendation system. The company plans to eliminate traditional engagement indicators like likes and replies from the algorithm within the next four to six weeks. Instead, Grok, X’s built-in AI, will analyze more than 100 million posts and videos daily to predict user preferences. The exact workings of Grok’s predictive capabilities remain to be seen.
The concept of AI taking full control of what content appears on X’s platform isn’t new, but it is becoming increasingly concrete. Grok will have the capability to read and watch every piece of content on the platform, enabling it to suggest posts that it believes would be of interest to users, regardless of the account’s popularity.
However, such extensive AI control comes with its own set of risks. While it could potentially make X more streamlined and personalized, concerns about bias and control remain, particularly given Grok’s imperfect track record with content decisions.
What is the primary goal of the changes being made to X?
The main goal is to enhance user engagement by keeping users within the app even as they access external links.
How does X plan to improve the performance of posts with links?
X is planning to allow users to access linked content while still being able to interact with the original post, thereby keeping users within the app.
What role will AI play in X’s new content curation strategy?
Grok, X’s built-in AI, will analyze over 100 million posts and videos daily to predict users’ preferences, playing a key role in deciding what content is shown to users.
