Elon Musk’s big reveal, how the X algorithm works

If you’re wondering why you only see a certain type of content on your X feed, owner Elon Musk has the answer. The billionaire shed light on the platform’s inner workings in a post on Monday.

The X algorithm operates on a simple but effective principle: “If you interact with content, you want to see more of that content.” This means that your interactions such as likes, comments, and shares with posts directly influence the algorithm’s decisions about which content to display.

Mr Musk elaborated on one of the algorithm’s main signals – sharing content. “One of the strongest signals is that if you forward X post to friends, it assumes you like that content a lot because it takes effort to forward it,” he wrote. This means that when users share a post, the algorithm interprets that action as a strong endorsement of the content, and pushes similar items into their feed over and over again.

However, Mr. Musk also acknowledged a significant flaw in this logic. He pointed out that the algorithm does not understand the intent behind a user’s interaction, especially when the motivation is negative. “Unfortunately, if the real reason you forwarded content to friends was that you were offended by it, we are currently not smart enough to understand that,” he admitted.

In a follow-up post, Mr Musk shared his support for “freedom of expression”. “I love content that supports freedom of expression,” he said, adding, “Long live X. Long live freedom of expression.”

Going a step further, he wrote, “I would fight the Brazilian dictator in a cage if I had to.” The comment was targeted at Brazil’s Chief Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom Mr Musk had previously labelled a “tyrant” and a “dictator”.

The dispute between the two began in April when Elon Musk announced he would keep accounts linked to the 2023 attack on the Brazilian Congress in Brasilia suspended while a court ordered them to remain blocked.

In response, Alexandre de Moraes launched an investigation against X’s owner, accusing him of spreading fake news, obstructing justice and promoting criminal activities. He ordered Brazilian internet service providers to block access to X, threatened daily fines for users trying to circumvent the ban by using VPNs, and even froze the finances of Mr Musk’s company, Starlink, in Brazil.

Elon Musk hit back, accusing Mr Moraes of undermining democracy and using X to criticise the judge’s actions.