A study of 18 media accounts revealed that posts containing links on X have lower engagement rates.



It has long been said that posts containing links to external sites on X (formerly Twitter) tend to get fewer views, but a survey of posts from 18 media accounts has now confirmed that there is indeed a decrease in engagement rates, such as receiving 'RTs' and 'Likes.'

Do links hurt news publishers on Twitter? Our analysis suggests yes | Nieman Journalism Lab

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/do-links-hurt-news-publishers-on-twitter-our-analysis-suggests-yes/

It's rumored that X is reducing the number of posts that include links to external sites, possibly with the aim of keeping users within the service. While owner Elon Musk hasn't explicitly confirmed this, he has stated that links should be included in replies to the main post, suggesting that he doesn't recommend including links in the main post.

Elon Musk suggests he's lowering the priority of posts containing links on X - GIGAZINE



For example, a New York Times post with 53 million followers has been viewed 160,000 times at the time of writing, but it only has 117 retweets and 482 likes. Even considering that there are a fair number of users who follow without actively engaging, this is still an extremely low level of engagement.



Regarding this situation, Nikita Bier, head of product at X, suggests that it's because while posting styles are changing around the world, the New York Times isn't making any effort to adapt, instead sticking to its 'just one line of explanation on the link' approach.



To determine whether the presence or absence of links is truly the issue, or whether it can be mitigated with some ingenuity as Mr. Beer suggests, the Nieman Lab, a research institute of the Harvard University Nieman Foundation that conducts journalism research, analyzed posts from 18 media outlets to investigate whether the presence or absence of links in a post affects engagement such as impressions and clicks.

The media outlets targeted were six with paywalls: Bloomberg, CNN, Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Nine without paywalls were AP, BBC, Al Jazeera, BreitbartNews, CBS, DailyWire, FOX, and NBCReuters. In addition, three other outlets were selected—LeadingReport, unusual whales, and Globe Eye News—for posting breaking news to X, even though they are not news outlets themselves.

As a result, BBC, with 15.1 million followers and all posts containing links, had a median engagement of only 71. CNN, with 61.7 million followers and 90% of its posts containing links, had a median engagement of 706. In contrast, unusual whales, with 3.5 million followers and only 11% of its posts containing links, had a median engagement of 1767. Globe Eye News, with 886,000 followers and no links in any of its posts, had a median engagement of only 8418.

A breaking news report by Globe Eye News stating that the United States has called on Iran to immediately release the Strait of Hormuz has been viewed 292,000 times and has received 767 retweets and 7,104 likes.



Nieman Labs concludes that 'this clearly shows that links within posts are a cause of decreased engagement.'

Regarding this situation, statistician Nate Silver has commented that the content of posts that are likely to appear on X has become more right-leaning and of lower quality, turning it into a 'freak show.'

Social media is turning into a freak show - by Nate Silver
https://www.natesilver.net/p/social-media-has-become-a-freak-show

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in Note,   Web Service, Posted by logc_nt