Gone are the times we used to signal into Twitter and share tweets. It’s now November 2023, greater than a yr since Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired the favored social media platform, and the cheery, avian blue-and-white icon obtained changed with a darkish insignia that merely says “X.”
Many customers, together with Mashable’s Chris Taylor, imagine that Twitter — er, I imply “X” — has taken a flip for the more serious. Others, alternatively, discover the rebrand to be refreshing. However, regardless of the place you stand, you may’t deny that there are some options stripped from the platform that we’ll all miss.
7 issues you may now not do on Twitter / X
In July, Musk referred to as X an “all the things app,” however for an app that allows you to do “all the things,” there’s rather a lot we will now not do.
1. You cannot view X with out logging in
Lurkers as soon as had the luxurious of sifting via Twitter with out logging in or being a registered person.
Browsing via Twitter
Credit: Shutterstock
Now, if you wish to browse the social media platform, you don’t have any selection however to signal right into a Twitter account.
2. ‘Quote tweets’ are now not inside simple attain
As Mashable’s Deputy UK Editor Sam Haysom talked about in mid-September, quote tweets was once simple to entry throughout Twitter’s heyday.
Sifting via one’s X feed.
Credit: Shutterstock
Unfortunately, because of an irksome redesign, it’s a must to take a number of further steps to see quote tweets. You should now click on on the three-dot icon and faucet on “View submit engagements” earlier than clicking on “Quotes.” Plus, X now not tells you what number of quote tweets a submit has.
3. You cannot tweet to a subgroup of followers
In late September, X introduced that it is sunsetting Circles, a characteristic that allowed customers to select and select a subgroup of followers to obtain particular posts.
In different phrases, with Twitter Circles, as an alternative of tweeting to your whole followers, you could possibly work together with a smaller crowd. Unfortunately, you may’t do this anymore.
4. Headlines at the moment are stripped out of your hyperlinks
Now, whenever you enter a hyperlink into your tweet (e.g., an article), the headline is not going to be displayed. The Verge has a reasonably good “earlier than and after” image that illustrates this irritating new characteristic.
Musk, demonstrating his aptitude for crushing it at spelling bees, tweeted that he made this alteration to “enhance the esthetics [sic].”
5. You should wait longer to open hyperlinks from opponents
An evaluation from The Markup found that X is throttling site visitors from opponents, together with Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Substack.
Rival apps like Threads are throttled on X.
Credit: Shutterstock
This report is not shocking contemplating the truth that Musk briefly banned hyperlinks from Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and different rivals in December 2022.
6. PlayStation and Xbox players lose integration with Twitter
Access to Twitter’s API was once free, however as we reported in March, Musk is placing a worth on it now — its most cost-effective bundle is a whopping $42,000 per 30 days.
PlayStation and Xbox players can now not straight add to X.
Credit: Shutterstock
As a end result, gaming platforms like Microsoft and Sony are terminating their integrations with X. In different phrases, players can now not share their online game captures straight with Twitter / X.
7. The blue examine is now not earned
As CNN places it, Musk reworked the blue examine from a standing image to a badge of disgrace.
The blue examine is not what it was once.
Credit: Shutterstock
The blue examine as soon as authenticated influential accounts and high-profile figures, however now, Musk has eroded its worth. Anyone should buy a blue examine by subscribing to X Premium. However, it will value you $16 a month as of this writing.
Final ideas
This record is much from exhaustive — and it’ll proceed to climb. Elon Musk stated he’ll kill the block characteristic on X. Plus, Musk instructed that he could put X behind a paywall, too.
We cannot wrap our minds round Musk’s endgame for X, however as Mashable’s Matt Binder found, it is not trying good for the Tesla CEO thus far. Daily lively customers look like dwindling as we communicate.
