It first started with providing users with the option of anonymity for their public facing ‘likes’ tab, which was a popular development to some users who, no doubt, wanted to keep their catalog of content to themselves. Yet in what feels like a blink of an eye, it’s now become mandatory across the board and I am noticing whatever remnants of enjoyment I had left on this platform is slipping away.

It’s quite a bold move by Elon Musk, otherwise known to the Reddit community as Space Karen, who has already left irreparable damage to the commercial opportunities available to native creators on X. Thanks to copious controversies, overinflated lies of digital footfall across the platform and a vacuum of creators opting for other, more commercially viable platforms - the platform is truly a shadow of itself when it was formerly known as Twitter. And I’m not politically speaking nor am I romanticizing a platform that still had its flaws back in its heyday, I’m just objectively telling you that to be a creator on X, is one that has constant challenges and setbacks. 

What might be perceived as not a big deal to few who point to hollow arguments of privacy (just keep it an optional feature?) is an oversight for others for the effective discovery users had when accessing a profile’s publicly available likes. In fact, I would argue that the feature defined its most social elements of the platform. Whether it was users using it for its most primal use or consciously curating the section like a bedroom mood board - it was an opportunity to be connected in shared interests. And when it comes to the ‘For You Page’, at least for myself, it does not have the same expanse. In fact, it's an entirely different experience. My algorithm lately feels vastly oversaturated with Brat-core memes similar to how Sabrina Carpenter plays whenever my playlist finishes on Spotify. I’ve never once played Espresso. And whenever I do come across an overwhelmingly unpopular opinion, I no longer get the joy when you would get to see who out-ratio-ed a hot take. 

Musk mentioned being “attacked for likes” as the reason for its removal, but given his track record being out-ratio-ed by the whole community, it’s not the only gripe he has had with the function. Time will only tell you how much the feature’s removal will have shrunk the platform’s social mobility but there’s no doubt its real figure is likely to be misleadingly bloated in their next press release. When Musk told of his vision for X as a digital town square I pictured The Simpsons’ Springfield Town Square. No joke. At the center, Jebediah Springfield is replaced with a golden sculpture of Musk probably doing something really cringe surrounded by shopfronts north, east, south and west. Every window was individually unique in style and design as a metaphor for the spectrum the ‘like’ feature offered to users finding new creators and content. Without it, we’re just left with “Space Karen” graffitied over Musk’s statue and one less reason to visit this ever-less appealing digital town square. 

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