Twitter: Musk changes algorithm to project himself on the network – 02/15/2023 – Tech

Elon Musk would have ordered, in the early hours of Monday (13), that Twitter employees change the social network algorithm after one of his tweets was viewed less than a statement by President Joe Biden on the platform. Now, more than 90% of the billionaire’s followers would see his publications.

The information was published by the Platformer newsletter, maintained by journalist specializing in covering big techs Casey Newton, who is also a podcaster for the New York Times. The message to change the social network would have come from the nephew of the owner of Twitter, James Musk.

“We are going to fix an issue with engagement on the platform,” James Musk would have written in a channel with social network engineers on the Slack chat app. Technicians then created a tool called “power user multiplier” that increases the projection of the billionaire’s tweets, also owner of Tesla and SpaceX, according to the report.

On the last day 7, still according to Platformer, the owner of Twitter fired one of the main engineers of the team. The employee allegedly said that Elon Musk’s tweets had lost reach because the boss had lost popularity. Social network algorithms, in general, increase the visibility of publications that hold the reader more.

Joe Biden reportedly triggered Elon Musk’s frustration by expressing support, on the social network, for the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl final and receiving 29 million impressions. The Twitter owner also exposed his fans to the public and received 9.1 million views and decided to delete his tweet.

The Eagles lost the game to the rival Kansas City Chiefs, and Elon Musk flew by private jet to San Francisco Bay, where Twitter is headquartered. There, the billionaire allegedly demanded changes to the social network’s timeline code, according to Casey Newton’s newsletter.

Social network users around the globe began to point out overexposure to Elon Musk’s publications on Monday in the “for you” tab, created in early February with the promise of delivering personalized curation for each user. In this tab, among the first ten publications shown to the report, five were from the billionaire.

Elon Musk’s decision to modify the algorithm for his own benefit has led some users to block it. This Wednesday (15), the hashtag #BlockElon reached the topics of the moment in the world with almost 10 thousand tweets.

According to the Bloomberg news agency, Elon Musk said he should remain in charge of the social network for about another year. The statement was made this Wednesday, when the billionaire participated in the World Government Summit, which brings together heads of state, local leaders and executives in Dubai.

In December, the billionaire owner of Tesla opened a poll with the question of whether he should continue in the direction of Twitter. Among respondents, 57.5% voted for Elon Musk’s resignation.