X is Considering Removing All Engagement Counts and Buttons on Posts, with Only ‘Views’ to Remain

Okay, that is going to take some consideration.

Yesterday, fresh off of revamping link previews on X, which now sees preview cards only display the header image, owner Elon Musk made one other announcement concerning the way forward for the X UI.

All the interaction counts and motion buttons, except the views counter, which X added back in December (also on the request of Musk), will soon be gone from view in feeds, and can only be visible inside the post details, i.e. if you expand a post.

So, eventually, posts in-stream will appear like this:

Which seems flawed, in a variety of how.

For one, it’ll reduce post engagement, which we already know based on Instagram’s test of hidden like counts back in 2019. Research showed that overall post interactions declined significantly for influencers who were within the regions where the test was implemented, with the dearth up upfront metrics directly altering user behaviors.

You’d presume similar impacts on total re-posts, with peer actions having no less than some effect on broader behaviors.

That will not be a nasty thing, as we should always all be basing such on how we personally respond, not how others engage. But with likes and retweets also having an impact on post reach, as per X’s open sourced algorithm, you’ll be able to bet that a number of platform influencers, who are actually seeking to maximize engagement with the intention to boost their ad revenue share, shall be none too pleased if that is implemented. 

Instagram further noted that individuals often use like counts ‘to get a way for what’s trending or popular’, and taking them away impacted this. X is the house of real-time engagement and trends, so that might likely be much more of a think about this case.

Essentially, removing the immediate response options and counts will inevitably see them used less. And with X recently revealing that the vast majority of activity in its app is via re-posts and quotes, that’ll likely see overall activity within the app decline, by lots.

From one perspective that might be a positive, with past research suggesting that re-posting, and the convenience of re-sharing a message within the app, greatly amplifies misinformation. So possibly such a change would limit the spread of faux news, however it’s X that’ll have to sell its ad partners, and users, on the concept that less engagement is definitely a superb thing.

For context, X says that it currently sees 500 million posts per day, with 300 million of those being re-posts and quotes.

Depending on how that is enacted, it could also impact post sharing, with the share icon prone to also get less emphasis within the updated display, which might also limit expanded discussion and interaction.

X has further clarified that it will be seeking to implement more gesture controls in its place, like double-tap to Like, and swipe to answer. But I can’t see that being as effective, while the removal of the engagement numbers could arguably be the larger impact.

But on the flip side, could it work?

The advantages could be less competition on vanity metrics, with reach becoming the essential focus. That might put more emphasis on the post content itself, while it may also actually drive more direct post interactions, in terms expands, click-throughs, etc.

The switch to only view numbers would also bring X more into line with YouTube’s metric display, and with X seeking to put more emphasis on video content, that may also make sense.

However it’d be an enormous shift, which might take a while to get used to for a lot of users.

The issue with that’s that X needs to maximise its revenue, with the intention to get back to break-even, and even beyond that, as a result of the corporate now being saddled with billions in debt. With this in mind, can X weather lower than expected performance, and the resultant impacts, within the short term, till user behaviors re-align with this recent display?

Essentially, it’s not hard to predict what is going to occur, because we’ve already seen it with IG’s similar test. The query is whether or not it’s value implementing, as a method to shift user behaviors, and reform how in-app engagement works.

It’s a dangerous approach. But I assume, that’s what Elon does, so… good luck?