In a surprising revelation, Elon Musk announced that he was unaware of his name being encoded into Twitter’s recommendation algorithm. This discovery was made after Twitter’s algorithm was made open-source, allowing users to examine the code and understand its inner workings.
Unraveling Twitter’s algorithm
During a Twitter Spaces live event on Friday, March 31, Musk addressed the publication of Twitter’s source code on GitHub. This occurred following its leak online. Users found that the code included the term “author_is_elon,” suggesting that the algorithm recognized tweets posted by Musk. “I think it’s weird,” Musk responded. “This is the first time I’m learning of this, by the way.”
Further examination of the code revealed specific directives for the recommendations algorithm under For You, registering tweets authored by “Republican,” “Democrat,” and “power user.” These components have since been removed from the code.
Musk embraces transparency
According to Musk, illuminating these “stupid and embarrassing” insights into the algorithm is a crucial step in the process. He stated that the algorithm should not be dividing users into political categories and expressed the need for immediate removal of such aspects. Twitter published the full code on GitHub last week. In a blog post, they explained that the open-source approach could help users understand how the platform determines which tweets appear on their For You timeline.
Twitter aims to refine the algorithm by welcoming user criticism and feedback. Musk acknowledged that the code has several issues that need fixing. He encouraged users to help identify those problems, tweeting that the algorithm is overly complex and not fully understood internally. Musk also mentioned plans to develop a simplified approach for serving more compelling tweets.
Musk admitted that providing code transparency would initially be embarrassing. However, it should ultimately lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. He emphasized the importance of earning users’ trust through this process. With Twitter’s algorithm now open-source, the company opens itself to scrutiny and collaboration, fostering an environment for refining and enhancing its social media experience.
