Substack has responded to X owner Elon Musk’s decision to remove headlines and links from third-party articles shared on his platform early in October. Links shared on X from Substack now automatically include the content headline with the Substack logo over the content’s main image in the preview.
The catch, as Matt Navarra points out on Threads, is that this feature only appears on X and not on other social media platforms.
According to an August report from Fortune, the decision to strip X of the headlines and links came from Musk “directly,” because he thought it would “greatly improve the esthetics” of posts. These “improved” esthetics now show links as an image with text in the left-hand corner showing the domain of the article source.
Since his takeover almost a year ago, Musk has intensified rivalries (and picked petty feuds) with other platforms like Substack and Meta (specifically its founder, Mark Zuckerberg). It can be recalled that Substack launched a Twitter-like feature called Notes after X, then still Twitter, banned all Substack links in April.
As of this writing, X has yet to respond to Substack’s move.
Information for this story was found via Threads, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
