The social media platform will remove the Like and Repost buttons from its feed within the coming weeks, according to a software engineer at X.
This is an ongoing experiment and will roll out to users gradually, said Driscoll, who noted that the user experience might change as the feature is rolled out. This comes after an unreleased user interface demo video surfaced showing a new menu that lets users view likes and reposts.
The video shared by Stanley is actually just a “more” menu and not necessarily the overall UX for X users, according to Driscoll. The main functionality of the new UX will include “simple gestures”, he said.
Notably, X users will still be able to see the number of likes and reposts on any given post but will need to tap on individual posts to view the metrics.
The new UI will allow users to interact with posts by “tapping and then swiping to make a choice”, something he says is “a bit like a video game interface”, added Stanley.
X has yet to offer a definitive explanation as to why it’s removing the Like count – although some comments from Stanely suggest that the new features are more focused on improving the UX and displaying as much content on-screen as possible.
Several X accounts have suggested that the new format could help to shift focus to the content of posts and deter a potential wave of engagement-farming posts.
