What if you were able to control which tweets were shown each time you logged into the app, with variable options to indicate how the algorithm works and the order in which relevant tweets are presented based on your personal preferences?
It could be on the card, according to a new discovery by a reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong.
Twitter is working on “Content Control Tools”
From what it looks like, this will provide a more official way for third parties to enhance the experience * inside * the Twitter app, including allowing third party tools to provide custom timelines.
– Zhen Manchun Ong (wongmjane) May 31, 2022
Third party tools for providing custom timelines? What a wonderful.
The process will enable seemingly non-Twitter platforms to create additional algorithms, Twitter’s own, which will enable new ways to experience the latest tweets later.
Wong further notes that it can basically enable users Choose their own “algorithm”, not just Twitter’s home timeline algorithm‘
This idea has been floated in various forms in the past, while more algorithmic transparency is also a key element of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover push.
Most recently, Musk has criticized Twitter’s current algorithm selection, which he claims is manipulating the user experience.
It’s important to fix your Twitter feed:
1. Tap the Home button
2. Tap the star at the top right of the screen.
3. Select “Last Tweet”You are being driven by algorithms in a way that you do not understand.
It’s easy to switch back and forth to see the difference.
– Elon Musk (lonelonmusk) May 14, 2022
The solution, in Musk’s eyes, is Hall Open the algorithmWhich will enable users to better understand the internal workings of the platform system, so that they can make more conscious choices about their in-app experience.
Twitter has been doing similar explorations for some time ‘Bluesky’ initiativeWhile the basic idea that regular users may have a better understanding of such systems may not be so simple in practice, with a level of code knowledge such complexities need to be fully realized when emptied.
An alternative might be to enable open sourcing Twitter’s algorithmic parameters Developers to create new, custom algorithms Which users can choose from to personalize their tweets experience.
Explained by Nathan Bashej:
“For example, I’d like to try an algorithm that prioritizes brief conversations about important issues. Maybe someone else would want to find an algorithm for mind-blowing threads, vulgar dunks, or a thirst for hot new snacks.”
This, apparently, could be what Twitter is doing with this new update of code, which, as Wang notes, indicates to other providers that would essentially be a marketplace for various algorithms within the app.
It could change a lot about the larger Twitter experience and marketing methods.
We asked Twitter about Wang’s discovery and it made this statement:
“We’re always looking for new ways to experiment with new developer-built features for the timeline. We’ll share more about our work here soon.“
That sounds like exactly what is coming – though it’s too early to guess what the ‘Content Control Tool’ will mean for a wider tweet experience.
But it could be a big change – and with Elon already behind it, it could survive a possible takeover, which could turn it into a priority project.
There is so much to consider. A completely different Twitter feed for everyone. A marketplace for updating and changing your timeline. A new way to learn more about algorithmic magnification.
The next phase of Twitter may look very different from its current state.