Some welcome news for the new year: post headlines are now starting to reappear once again on link previews shared to X.

They just now return to the web version of the app, where other platforms will follow, with the headline now in a different location, and the preview text no longer visible.
the new X link preview format will include a headline showing up as a basic headline on the article image.

It somehow looks better in-stream than the old version, at least according to X owner Elon Musk.
, the previous link preview on X would show you both the header image, the title, and link preview text, so much more context on what you were about to click. But Elon personally didn't like them, and back in October insisted they remove all text from the link preview in-stream to make them more "aesthetically pleasing.".
Not long after, with many of his followers commenting to him about the dumbness of this layout, Elon reinstated headlines, and here is the result of that.

Which arguably is more aesthetically challenged, but having headlines again will at least make it a bit easier for social media managers to create posts within the app, without having to share the headline again, and direct followers to tap on the link for more.

But it's still a step down from the good old link preview. On the other hand, Elon would prefer to see as much long-form content natively on the app. Which major pubs will never do anyway, but the enemy of major pubs is the enemy, or whatever.

I have no idea, looks bad, but it's better than nothing, I suppose.

No word yet on if link headlines will be rolled out to every user and platform.