It is a demand that goes back a long way, supported by many, many long before Elon Musk buy the company: publish the Twitter algorithm as open source. And, if we trust what the beloved leader has said, it will happen next week, although he warns us not to set expectations too high, it is not clear why.
The issue of algorithms in social networks also comes from afar, and it is that it is the main form of manipulation that these platforms have to favor their own interests. Something that might seem clear a priori, because for something with private companies, but that is not the case, given the relevance they have in everyone’s lives. Especially Twitter.
Twitter may not be the most popular social network on the planet by its number of active users, but it’s certainly the most relevant as far as generating public information is concerned. On Twitter there are famous politicians, companies and institutions of all kinds, etc; and very often they use it as a communication platform to launch their communications -even if these have been previously published on their website.
Thus, it is not surprising that the Twitter algorithm, the one that orders what appears on the timeline of each user, the one that highlights or hides information from the masses, has traditionally been the object of mistrust. For everyone even minimally interested in the matter and also for Elon Musk, who is critical of the service that he now directs.
Twitter algorithm should be open source
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2022
The demand to release the code of the Twitter algorithm comes from afar, we say, and the Elon Musk was one of the great valuers of this movement, before, during and it seems that after taking over the company. In his particular way of deciding things, he launched the proposal in a survey almost a year ago, with obvious results.
This was also one of the purposes declared by Musk once he took over the reins of Twitter, which he now confirms in a response from the same social network: «Prepare to be disappointed at first when we open source our algorithm next week, but it will improve quickly!»
Prepare to be disappointed at first when our algorithm is made open source next week, but it will improve rapidly!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2023
Now what he says needs to be fulfilled. For the moment, everything that has come out of their surveys has, although not always in the terms that one would expect. For example, in one of his surveys he asked if he would stop being CEO of Twitter and he won the yes, but the once richest man in the world has committed himself to leading the company until 2024. We will have to see what happens, because .
All in all, for Musk to comply with what he has just said would be an important step for Twitter and for the Internet in general, although we already know that the law is made, the cheat is made: you can publish the code of whatever you want from the servers inside you know what happens. However, another of his struggles was with Twitter censorship and somehow he has improved the situation.
