X is testing changes to how it handles web links to external sites

If you’ve ever posted a link on X and watched your reach plummet into oblivion, you’re not alone — and you’re not imagining it. Ever since Elon Musk acquired X, known as Twitter at the time, creators, publishers, and social media managers have been battling a platform that clearly doesn’t like people leaving the app. But now, X claims it’s about to “change how links work”… again.

Back in 2023, X quietly changed how link previews appeared in the feed by ditching headlines and trimmed cards in favour of bare visuals with less context. That meant fewer clicks, less clarity, and more frustration for news outlets and bloggers who depend on referral traffic.

Then it got worse.

It emerged that X had been actively suppressing posts with external links and the trend still holds today. Elon Musk has even admitted it, pointing to both the algorithm and user behaviour:

“Since the algorithm recommends posts based on how much time people spend on them, both video and text content posted on this platform naturally get boosted more than links off-platform, as the time spent on a link is short.”

And it gets messier. X has also been caught throttling links to certain publications. So, not only do links tank your reach, but which link you post could land you in the penalty box. Musk’s “solution”? Don’t post links in the main tweet.

"Just write a description in the main post and put the link in the reply. This just stops lazy linking."

But honestly… how does that make sense? If I post “I wrote a new article on Techish” with the link below, that’s lazy. But if I post “I wrote a new article on Techish” and then reply to myself with the link, suddenly it’s noble and platform-approved?

Make it make sense.

X says it’s testing equal visibility for web links

Now here’s the surprise twist.

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, just announced that starting this week, “we’ll be testing a new way to share and engage with web links on X. The goal will be to ensure all content on the platform has equal visibility on Timeline.”

Equal visibility? As in… links might get treated like text posts, videos, memes and random billionaire rants? That would be a stunning reversal of the Musk-era link purge. Details are scarce, but the announcement hints at a test designed to undo (or at least soften) the anti-link bias that’s been punishing creators, bloggers, journalists, and publishers since Elon’s takeover.

Should you get excited or just cautious? Well, this could go in one of three directions:

1. Actual change — Link reach improves and the platform stops shadow-choking posts that lead elsewhere.
2. Cosmetic tweak — Link formatting changes, but engagement still dies on arrival.
3. “We made it equal” – Musk Edition — Links get “equal visibility” only in theory, while the algorithm quietly buries them anyway.

For publishers, creators, bloggers and digital marketers especially those using X to drive traffic to websites, this update could be huge. If it’s real. But for now, it’s a waiting game. Still, if Nikita Bier’s “equal visibility” test genuinely rolls out and sticks, it could restore some level of fairness for creators and media outlets trying to survive on referral traffic.

But until we see it in the wild, don’t delete that “link in first reply” muscle memory just yet.