X Users Puzzled by Pointing-Hand Prompt to Promote Posts
X users report a pointing-hand nudge to promote posts while composing, sparking confusion as a new product chief takes over.
According to TechCrunch, a growing number of users posted that the hand suddenly appeared while they were writing a post. The reaction was broadly negative, the report said, with users irked by the in-app push toward promotion.
Promoting posts involves spending money, and the report noted that even users who wanted to promote a post might be scared off after seeing the hand. With Halloween around the corner, the prompt could be a prank meant to spook users, though X has not said so, according to TechCrunch.
Dylan Abruscato, president of the TBPN podcast, described the engagement trick as the “most Nikita-coded thing I’ve ever seen,” a reference to growth tactics associated with Nikita Bier, X’s former head of product, TechCrunch reported.
Bier left the platform in August after almost a year at the helm. On Monday, Peter Sellis, Bier’s former boss and former head of product for Snap and Discord, posted that he has taken over as X’s product chief, according to the report.
It is unclear whether the hand is Sellis’s doing. TechCrunch said it had reached out to X for comment and would update its story if it heard back. X has not commented on the prompt.