X now allows Premium+ users write long-form articles
What's the story
X has launched a new feature for verified organizations and Premium+ subscribers which allows them to create and share long-form articles. This feature offers a user-friendly text editor with options for embedded media and text formatting, such as bullet points. The character limit for these articles is much higher than the current 25,000-character limit for premium subscribers, with tests indicating a limit of around 100,000 characters or roughly 15,000 words.
The origins
Origins of X's long-form publishing tools
The idea of long-form publishing tools on X started before Elon Musk took over the company. In 2022, X revealed an early version called 'Notes' in an attempt to attract newsletter writers and other creators to the platform. Despite displaying a negative attitude toward journalists on X, Musk confirmed last summer that the publishing tools were still in development.
Musk's past decisions
Impact on independent writers and news stories
The release of X's publishing tools is especially significant considering Musk's past actions impacting journalists and independent writers. Last year, Musk directed a change to X's recommendation algorithm, preventing links to newsletter platform Substack from showing up in 'For You' feeds. This limited the exposure of many independent writers. Additionally, X temporarily removed headlines from news stories shared on the platform last fall, later bringing them back in a smaller font size.