Published , by Morgan Shaver
Published , by Morgan Shaver
While previously promised by Elon Musk, today the exact date as to when Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets was shared. Starting on March 31, that information will reportedly become available as a way to help people better understand the platform’s algorithm.
"Our ‘algorithm’ is overly complex and not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things, but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found,” Musk explained.
Based on Musk’s remarks, it sounds like the team currently anticipates “embarrassing” issues with the platform’s code to be stumbled upon, with Musk promising to patch any issues as soon as they’re found. That aside, it’ll be interesting to see what else arises once more information in regards to Twitter’s algorithm is shared starting March 31.
Musk wanting Twitter to “open source the algorithm” has been something he’s wanted to see done for a while now. Back in 2022, Musk stated that one of the things he believed Twitter should do is open source the algorithm and “make any changes to people’s tweets — you know, if they’re emphasized or de-emphasized — that action should be made apparent so anyone can see that action’s been taken. So there’s no sort of behind-the-scenes manipulation either algorithmically or manually.”
What happens once the source code used to recommend tweets is shared and the Twitter algorithm is further illuminated remains to be seen. Either way, we look forward to finding out come March 31. For more Twitter-related news, be sure to catch up with some of our previous coverage including how a Twitter engineer was fired for suggesting that the public is over Elon Musk's antics, and Twitter increasing its character limit to 4,000 for Blue subscribers exclusively.