Elon Musk is planning to make likes on X private, a move that could change a feature that has historically placed several celebrities, including him, into scandals. The platform is making likes private as public likes may be discouraging people from engaging with content that might be considered edgy. This change is in line with Musk’s broader vision for X to conceal likes and reposts more broadly.
Currently, most users on X have their likes publicly displayed on their profiles, which shows all users the posts they’re engaging with. X started offering paying users an option to hide their likes last September, but this tweet suggests the feature may be expanding broadly.
Musk’s own public likes have placed him in hot water before. In 2022, Musk liked an anti-trans tweet from the notorious right-wing account, Libs of TikTok. Currently, Elon Musk’s liked tweets reveal that in the last week, the owner of X has liked a meme saying Dr. Anthony Fauci is really Dr. Evil, a meme making fun of trans activists, and a whole lot of tweets about himself.
Making X’s likes private would surely let folks engage more freely with content on the platform. Your likes on X contribute to the algorithm’s accuracy in recommending more content, so it could improve the user experience. However, it also takes away a key accountability feature that made Twitter so entertaining.
Read more: gizmodo.com