X Is Testing A New Way To Open Links In Posts To Boost Engagement, And Reembrace Creators

In the world of social media, engagement is more than a metric. It’s the pulse that keeps platforms alive.

For platforms like X (formerly Twitter), engagement defines success. Every like, comment, share, and scroll represents a moment of captured attention: a moment that can be monetized. Just like any other platforms out there, X thrives on activity; the more users interact, the more valuable they become to advertisers and investors alike.

Engagement isn’t just about clicking buttons. It’s about how long users linger, how often they return, and how deeply users interact with what they see. And on X, impressions and replies as proof of relevance.

And this time, X is quietly testing a redesign of how external links are handled, one that could reshape how creators and publishers view the platform.

Until now, when a user clicked a link in a post, the app would open it in a full-screen browser, covering the original post entirely. The result? Many users never returned to the post to like, repost or reply. What this means, the engagement signals that X relies on simply faded away.

X wants to change this.

Instead of opening links in full-screen, X wants to make the original post remains visible at the bottom of the screen while the link opens above it. This should keep the like/reply/repost buttons within reach.

From a behavioral standpoint, the logic is straightforward, as explained by X’s product lead, Nikita Bier.

By keeping the original post in view, X hopes to recover some of that lost engagement, and in doing so, perhaps rethink how link-based posts are ranked.

However, there’s quite a bit more beneath the surface.

In theory, this opens the door for accounts with fewer followers or links embedded in posts to gain traction, only if the quality of the post stands alone.

Bier herself echoed that idea when he urged content creators to "remember: the post should stand alone as great content so write a solid caption."

Also, Bier wasn’t just being dramatic. His words hinted at a subtle shift within the platform, a moment where timing could matter more than ever.

At the same time, Musk has teased a broader shift in X’s recommendation system.

He claims that the platform will soon eliminate traditional heuristics (like counts of likes and replies) and instead rely on the AI engine Grok, which will "read every post and watch every video (100M + per day)" to tailor content to user interests.

For years, writers and publishers have complained not only that link-based posts on X perform poorly, with external links opening in full-screen browsers that pull users away and kill engagement, but also that under Elon Musk, the platform has been known to throttle posts containing links, especially those leading off-site, and even flag certain external domains as "unsafe" or undesirable.

The change now being tested suggests a strategic pivot: by reducing the friction when users engage with link-posts, X can gather better engagement data and signal that link-posts may again be treated favorably.

Now, with X testing a new in-app link experience and preparing to rely on Grok, its AI engine that analyzes and recommends content based on substance rather than surface-level engagement.

What this means, the equation may be changing.

Posts that once disappeared into the algorithmic void might soon find new visibility. Bier’s use of the word arbitrage borrows from finance: it describes taking advantage of a temporary imbalance between effort and reward. In this case, writers who return early could benefit from an under-saturated space, enjoying higher visibility before others realize the opportunity has reopened.

His message, in essence, is that there’s a rare window forming.

For journalists who once abandoned the platform, X is betting that its upcoming changes, from improved engagement tracking on links to an AI-driven recommendation system, will make it worth returning.

Behind the optimism lies a calculated goal. By luring writers and media voices back, X hopes to restore the intellectual gravity that once made Twitter the heartbeat of breaking news and cultural conversation.

It’s an invitation wrapped in strategy: part of Elon Musk’s broader plan to evolve X into an "everything app," where creators share, discuss, and publish without ever leaving the platform.