X is nudging users to promote their posts with a pointing hand, and people are confused
Published
What's this about?
Whose hand is behind this travesty?
The one-panel cartoon
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A social media dashboard filled with puzzled users' posts asking 'Whose hand is this?' with a small, floating pointing hand icon prominently displayed.
Caption: Customer support: 'We're here to help... with our new pointing hand!'
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on techcrunch.com.
Editor's note
The latest update from X, encouraging users to share posts with a pointing hand emoji, feels like a clumsy attempt to boost engagement metrics. It's unclear if the confusion and backlash will ultimately yield the desired user interaction or just add another layer of noise to the platform.
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Read the script
Panel 1
(a) What the subject of this story actually is and does: X is a social media platform designed to help users connect, share, and promote content to a wider audience. It aims to simplify content sharing and increase user engagement. (b) The ONE real irony or absurdity in the news: The irony lies in the fact that a social media platform, which is supposed to be intuitive and user-friendly, is confusing people with a simple gesture like a pointing hand, suggesting that even basic interactions are now complicated. (c) The single funniest observation that becomes the highlight: The highlight is the realization that users are more confused by a simple pointing hand than they are by complex algorithms or data privacy issues, highlighting the absurdity of the situation. ---
Panel 2
*Setting: A crowded coffee shop, with a user sitting at a table, scrolling through their phone. People are around them, some reading books, others chatting. The user looks puzzled and frustrated.* User (to themselves)
User: What does this pointing hand even mean? Am I supposed to wave at it or something?
Panel 3
*Setting: The user's home office, where they are now sitting at a desk with a laptop open. They look exasperated, holding their phone in one hand, pointing at the screen. A cat is lying on a nearby chair, watching the user.* User (to cat)
User: It's a social media platform, not a mystery game. Why can't they just tell me to share my post?
Panel 4
*Setting: The user's bed, late at night, with a phone and laptop next to them. They are in bed, staring at their phone in disbelief, holding it up to show a friend or family member on the other side of the bed, who looks equally bewildered.* User (to friend/family) Friend/Family (sighing): Or maybe you need a new social media platform. User (sarcastically)
User: Did they send me a hand or a message? I think I need a user manual for a pointing hand.
User: Yeah, because I definitely want to join another one that's just as confusing.
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