Elon Musk tweeted last night that “[c]hronological tweets seem much better than what ‘the algorithm,'” which suggest he will hopefully make major changes to the Twitter timeline when/if he takes charge of the social media platform:
Chronological tweets seem much better than what “the algorithm” suggests
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2022
He did tell his followers how to switch to Twitter’s current chronological timeline view now if they didn’t already know about it:
“Tap on the stars in upper right of screen to revert to chronological.”
Tap on the stars in upper right of screen to revert to chronological
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2022
We do wonder how many people even know about the little stars at the top right, including the people who, you know, regulate Big Tech:
True story: I explained this to a senator the other day. https://t.co/1YG0v6PBSt
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) May 12, 2022
This would be an excellent move:
I have never agreed with you more sir
— Austin Evans (@austinnotduncan) May 12, 2022
Not going to say it's the first time I've agreed with Elon…
… but might be the first time I've agreed 100%.
Algorithms are most of what's wrong with social media, IMO. https://t.co/9vUT4b2BCA
— Scott Phillips (@TMFScottP) May 12, 2022
Make it the only option please.
— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) May 12, 2022
— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) May 12, 2022
Now, if we can get Facebook and Instagram to follow his lead, we’re getting somewhere:
This is awesome. I wish Facebook and Instagram would do the same! https://t.co/371USG6SVN
— Breanne Davis (@BreanneDavis) May 12, 2022
And imagine the panic at Twitter HQ right now among all the engineers who work on “the algorithm” that their future CEO says sucks?
I do wonder how many people at Twitter/Facebook/Etc. are employed to better "the algorithm" and if those jobs are even necessary if social media platforms just show you the people you follow in the order they post. https://t.co/aIDbLZ5R4e
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) May 12, 2022
But booting “the algorithm” altogether would likely hamper Twitter’s ability to manage the content it shows to people, both good and bad:
They can’t both shadow-ban users and have chronological tweets, so they chose the former. Better to control the discourse. Can’t wait for it to end!
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) May 12, 2022
And nobody really seems to know if the chronological timeline is *really* a chronological timeline anyway. It can still be manipulated:
Even with chronological sorting, Twitter picks and chooses which tweets go into your timeline.
— Meldroc (@meldroc) May 12, 2022
Hopefully, when/if Musk takes charge, he will give us some transparency as to what went down in the before times:
Everyone do this. I have.. and am seeing the difference. I just wonder how it affects the ghost and shadow bans.. and the reply deboosts. https://t.co/BGYpjqHpPb
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) May 12, 2022
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Related:
Cue the FREAKOUT: Elon Musk says the quiet part OUT LOUD about Twitter’s ‘strong left-wing bias’
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