Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced on Saturday that the microblogging platform will open-source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31. This move towards transparency and openness comes weeks after Musk was accused of boosting his tweets ‘above normal level’ by tweaking Twitter’s algorithm to garner more impressions.[0]
In a series of tweets, Musk said, “Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st. Our ‘algorithm’ is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things, but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found! We’re developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it’s still a work in progress. That’ll also be open source. Providing code transparency will be incredibly embarrassing at first, but it should lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust.”
Open-sourcing the code has multiple benefits. It allows codes to be easily accessible to the public, who can then modify and redistribute those codes. It also creates a decentralised and collaborative ecosystem which is relatively cheaper and relies on peer review and community production.[1] By open-sourcing the algorithm, Twitter will be able to challenge its open-source alternatives, like Mastodon and Nostr.[0]
Additionally, Musk said that the company is working on a streamlined approach to serving more compelling tweets, which will also be open source. In July, Musk declared that the system would become “open source” and its algorithm would be enhanced “expeditiously.”[2] The CEO of Twitter has announced that, within the next few months, AI will be employed to identify and call attention to any attempts to manipulate public opinion on their platform.[3]
According to Bloomberg in a report, Tesla is beginning to experience a positive effect from Musk’s Twitter purchase.[4] [4]
Twitter has recently announced they are developing a more efficient way of sharing interesting tweets and will make the source code open to the public. We should expect to see these changes when the code is released on March 31.[5]
0. “Musk says Twitter will make tweet recommendation algorithm code open source on March 31” Shacknews, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.shacknews.com/article/134640/musk-twitter-open-source-code-recommended-tweets-march-31
1. “Elon Musk announces a set of latest updates for Twitter” Hindustan Times, 18 Mar. 2023, https://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/elon-musk-announces-a-set-of-latest-updates-for-twitter-101679105975883.html
2. “Twitter To Soon Open Source All Code Used To Recommend Tweets on March 31, Says Elon Musk” LatestLY, 18 Mar. 2023, https://www.latestly.com/technology/twitter-to-soon-open-source-all-code-used-to-recommend-tweets-on-march-31-says-elon-musk-4962268.html
3. “Twitter To Use AI To Detect Mass Manipulation, Says Elon Musk” CoinGape, 18 Mar. 2023, https://coingape.com/web-stories/twitter-to-use-ai-to-detect-mass-manipulation-says-elon-musk
4. “Is Tesla Using Twitter As Its New Public Relations Department?” InsideEVs , 17 Mar. 2023, https://insideevs.com/news/657758/is-tesla-using-twitter-as-its-new-public-relations-department/
5. “Twitter to open source algorithm used to recommend Tweets” FoneArena, 18 Mar. 2023, https://www.fonearena.com/blog/388574/twitter-open-source-algorithm-recommend-tweets.html