Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, owner Elon Musk announced an impending major update to the platform’s recommendation algorithm. This update, as outlined by Musk in a recent post, is geared towards amplifying the visibility of smaller accounts and posts, diverging from the traditional focus on popular and trending content.
Musk’s vision for the update is clear: to expose users to a broader array of accounts, particularly those outside their immediate network of friends and followers. This approach is seen as a move to democratize content visibility on X, potentially benefiting smaller creators by offering them a wider audience reach.
In line with its transformation into a creator-centric platform, X has been introducing features aimed at empowering content creators. This includes the ability to post long-form content with a character limit of 25,000 for premium subscribers, the option to upload two-hour videos, and a significant ad revenue-sharing program. As per X CEO Linda Yaccarino, nearly $20 million has been paid out to creators under this program.
X’s focus extends beyond content visibility to monetization and engagement. The platform aims to enable creators to build their audiences and monetize their posts through a blend of ad revenue sharing and subscriptions. Features supporting direct fan-to-creator interactions, such as message requests from subscribers and new audio and video calling options, are part of this strategy.
The reception of these features by creators remains mixed. While some have successfully built audiences on X, many still prefer larger platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for monetization and broader reach. However, the algorithm update could change this dynamic, potentially enhancing X’s appeal to creators and improving user engagement and discoverability.
Musk indicated that the algorithm update is slated for rollout within the week of November 10 and will be made open source. This aligns with X’s commitment to transparency and continuous improvement in its algorithmic processes.
Parallel to these developments, X has been actively seeking to attract advertisers. A notable partnership with Integral Ad Science in August 2023 aims to offer brands enhanced safety tools on the platform, underscoring X’s commitment to balancing free expression with platform safety.
In a related development, Elon Musk introduced a new artificial intelligence bot, Grok, developed by his xAI company. Grok, positioned as a competitor to ChatGPT, is undergoing tests with select users and utilizes data from X for enhanced performance.
