Elon Musk confirms that Twitter algorithm will be made public today
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk will come true, his promise made nearly a year ago about making the social media platform's algorithm publicly accessible. As per Musk's tweet, the algorithm will be open source today at noon Pacific Time.
When done, Twitter will become a rare social media platform owned privately, but its algorithm is in the public domain. For years, algorithms of social media platforms as well as other internet-based applications, have remained closely guarded secrets to keep their competitive edge.
Is Twitter a business or non-profit?
While hugely popular, it is hard to argue that Twitter is a significant social media business. Even before Musk's takeover, the social media company was barely scraping through with minimal advertising revenue compared to the likes of Instagram and YouTube, which bring in billions every year.
As CEO of the company, Musk laid off large staff and even cut down perks at work to bring costs under control and save it from potential bankruptcy. As Musk looks to write a new chapter of social media history with Twitter, the real question is whether the company is a business.
Last month, Musk joked that he brought the world's largest non-profit organization for $44 billion.
Say what you want about me, but I acquired the world’s largest non-profit for $44B lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2023
With advertising revenues failing to pick up, Musk relies on Twitter Blue subscriptions to bring in the money. Almost everything the company is doing now revolves around those who pay $8 a month for premium features on the platform. Recently, the company announced that only Twitter Blue subscribers would be featured in the 'For You' section of the user feed, where users find new and trending content on the platform.
Musk's recent announcement would help all Twitter users understand how the platform works and prioritizes content for sharing.
Algorithm goes open source at noon Pacific Time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2023
However, it is not expected to be straightforward. Musk has previously said that the code is overly complex and not fully understood by Twitter's staff. By publishing it. Musk also hopes that those with the know-how will provide feedback to the company, and the engineers can patch it up.
Musk also hopes to earn user trust by doing this, although it is unclear why an everyday user failing to get enough likes and retweets for their content would want to know how the code is snubbing him.
Experts have warned that the code could also be used to favor certain ideologies and points of view. It will be interesting to see some first reactions to the code and the long-term impacts of publicizing it.
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