Elon Musk Announces Changes to Blocking Mechanism on X (Formerly Twitter)
The owner of X, previously recognized as Twitter, Elon Musk, insinuated on Friday that users would no longer possess the power to block undesired followers from engaging in their post. This announcement implies that a long-standing protective function associated with blocking is being removed, allowing for only direct messages to have this feature.
Block Feature Adjustment
"The block feature will now only be applicable to direct messages," Musk disclosed in his post. He was reacting to a post by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, a group promoting the electric car company where Musk himself is the CEO.
Since purchasing Twitter last year for $44 billion, Musk has revamped the firm. He conducted extensive downsizing, reinstated formerly banned accounts, and lately rebranded the company to X. Musk didn't mention a specific reason behind this decision or a timeline for when the changes would take effect, merely commenting that it "makes no sense."
Implications of Block Feature Removal
The block function has been instrumental in preventing unwanted, harmful content from appearing in users' feeds. The mute feature only hides these responses from the user's view but doesn't remove them completely. Additionally, users have used this block feature in campaigns as well as to prevent unwanted ads on their feed.
Response of Other Investors
Changpeng Zhao, another investor and CEO of Binance, argued that the focus should be placed on other aspects. "Priority should be given to resolving bot and spam issues before removing the block feature," Zhao suggested, CEO of one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide.