Elon Musk wants to make X people’s main source for news updates, repeatedly touting his “everything app” as a competitor to mainstream publishers, and the only platform willing to tell the truth, direct from the public. Which is why, in Elon’s world at least, the media at large is now out to get him. 

Which is not true, but that’s the line that Elon’s going with, in order to fuel his alternative news push.

As part of this, X has already expanded the length of posts to enable more context in updates, and soon, X users will also be able to publish articles direct on X, in a new longer content format, which could also get its own in-app feed.

As you can see in this example, shared by app research Radu Onescu, X is currently experimenting with a new “X articles” update, which will seemingly provide a dedicated blog posting system, along with a custom link preview card within the X feed, that’ll take users through to the more traditional news content format.

Interesting to note, too, that this new card includes a preview image, headline, and summary section, much like the old Twitter link preview format that Elon got rid of back in October for the sake of ‘esthetics’. This format looks very similar, while Elon’s has also already re-added headlines to link preview cards, because the updated format made no sense.

X’s native hosted articles look set to come with an ‘X article’ tag to let users know that the content is hosted on the platform direct.

So it’s pretty much the same as Facebook’s “Instant Articles”, which load faster, and look better, because they’re facilitated within the app. 

Note that Facebook retired Instant Articles in 2022 because they were no longer delivering value in line with usage trends. 

But on X many things old are new again (e.g. live-streaming, video calls), and Elon and Co. will likely use this new publishing option as another means to try and lure more creators to post direct to the app. Which will also probably include some form of revenue share incentive, which could give more people more ways to make money online.

It’s unclear exactly how this would work, but the concept, as noted, would fit into Elon’s grand plan for making X a key news source, which is also likely to be a major focus this year, in the lead-up to the U.S. election.

Because Elon has planted his flag in the Republican camp, and seems intent on using his platform to amplify key political talking points, in line with that affiliation. Having more contributors share articles on the same could help to make X a key weapon in boosting this cause over the coming months.

As such, you can expect it to be released soon, and if you like Tesla, Republican talking points, and/or political conspiracy content, I’m sure you’ll have plenty to read when it is.

And maybe, depending on how X approaches it, it could offer new opportunities for content creators.

We’ll wait and see how X looks to boost the option.