Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has introduced a new privacy setting called 'Private Likes' [77351f3f]. This feature allows users to keep their likes on X posts private, offering them privacy and freedom [77351f3f]. Previously, the ability to hide the likes tab was exclusive to X Premium subscribers, but now all users can benefit from this privacy adjustment [44418781] [77351f3f]. With the new setting, individuals can see the posts they have liked, but others cannot view who has liked a specific post [44418781] [77351f3f]. The like counts for users' posts will now appear in the notification section, and only the users themselves and the person who posted the content can see the list of people who liked the post [77351f3f].
The director of engineering at X, Haofei Wang, announced the shift from public likes to private likes in May 2021 [77351f3f]. Elon Musk believes that it is important to allow people to like posts without fear of retaliation or judgment [77351f3f]. He wants users to express their preferences without concern about potential backlash [44418781]. Haofei Wang also mentioned that the more content users like, the more refined the 'For You' algorithm will be for them [44418781].
X has also introduced new subscription tiers, including Premium+ at $16 per month, which offers an ad-free experience, and a $3 monthly tier that does not include the blue checkmark verification [44418781]. These new subscription options were introduced to address financial challenges faced by the platform, including a drop in ad revenue [44418781].
Critics have accused Elon Musk of encouraging hateful rhetoric and misinformation on X, as he has scaled back moderation and reinstated previously banned accounts since taking over the platform [e2f4fdd5]. However, X recently updated its guidelines to allow users to share consensual and labeled sexualized content [e2f4fdd5].