X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and now under the ownership of Elon Musk, is reportedly working on a feature that would enable users to disable links in the replies to their posts. This feature is anticipated to help mitigate the issue of spam links in responses, allowing for a more controlled interaction on the platform. Additionally, it was recently announced that X is considering the introduction of a ‘dislike’ button for its iOS application, giving users the ability to downvote replies.
Disabling Links in Replies on X
The information comes from Nima Owji (@nima_owji), an independent app researcher known for identifying unreleased features on X. In a social media post, Owji indicated that users may soon be able to disable links in responses by selecting a check mark option. A screenshot shared alongside the announcement indicates that this feature would be positioned under the Only accounts you mention setting.
Christopher Stanley, a Security Researcher at X, confirmed the validity of Owji’s findings in a reply to another post, stating, “My team built this,” which lends credibility to the claim.
This proposed feature is part of a broader set of enhancements X aims to implement in line with Musk’s ambitions for the platform to evolve into an “everything app,” capable of supporting various functions from messaging to financial transactions, akin to China’s WeChat. The rebranding from Twitter to X took place last year, moving away from the iconic ‘Larry the Bird’ logo to a more minimalist ‘X’.
Among other features reported to be in development for X is an in-app currency that could allow content creators to monetize their contributions, extending the platform’s existing tipping capabilities. However, this functionality has not yet been made available.
Hidden Likes Tab
Alongside the potential link-disabling feature, X made significant changes last year when the Likes tab was removed from user profiles, a modification that initially affected only X Premium subscribers. Earlier this year, engineer Haofei announced plans to hide the likes tab from all users to help combat feelings of discouragement associated with public likes. Following this update, only the original poster will be able to view who has liked their content.
