Featured Image Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images / Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Topics: Technology, Twitter, Elon Musk
Joe Harker
Topics: Technology, Twitter, Elon Musk
One of the most useful and popular features on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, is going to be scrapped in most cases according to Elon Musk.
It's the latest instalment of 'oh god, what's he changed about it now' as Musk has followed up massive alterations to the workforce, the verification system, the verification system again, the verification system yet again and even the social media site's name with a new announcement.
Recent announcements include Musk claiming that he'll ditch every mode of Twitter besides dark mode, and that users would be 'rate limited' depending on their level of verification.
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As you might imagine this hasn't exactly done wonders for the social media site's value, which has been plummeting, and now the latest of his ideas for the social media site has been ejected from his brain onto the internet.
You know how on Twitter, or X if you prefer calling it that, you can block people that you don't want to interact with for many reasonable reasons? Yeah, apparently you can kiss that goodbye.
Musk was responding to a tweet from an account for Tesla owners which was asking whether there was any reason to block or mute someone.
He replied by claiming he'd be removing the ability to block people on the social media site, apart from in direct messages.
However, this latest idea of his might be dead in the water already as scrapping the block function could break the rules on what apps are allowed to do.
Apps on the Apple Store which contain user generated content must include 'the ability to block abusive users from the service'.
The Google Play Store requires similar, with their rules demanding 'an in-app system for blocking user generated content and users'.
If Musk pushed ahead with this and was found to have broken the rules by scrapping the ability to block people, then Twitter could be taken off their stores, meaning people couldn't download the app onto their devices.
That doesn't mean you couldn't use Twitter through a web browser as you wouldn't be using the app then, but most Twitter users use the app.
Musk's latest idea talks about ditching the block function but doesn't say anything specific about the ability to mute other people.
On Twitter if you block someone then they can't see or interact with you, anything you do or say on there is not available for them to view with their account.
You won't see them, they won't see you.
On the other hand, muting someone means they can still see everything you're doing, but you don't see or hear them no matter how much they try and yell at you online.