Twitter has gone back on its controversial change to promote an algorithmic-driven feed. The social media platform reversed its announcement barely four days after the official change, following backlash from users.
Not surprisingly, it isn’t the first time Twitter has tried to push an algorithmic feed. Let’s explore why Twitter is desperate to do so.
Twitter Reverses Its Controversial Change to the Feed
On March 10, 2022, Twitter rolled out a significant change to its feed, making it hard for iOS users to switch to the beloved reverse-chronological feed. Twitter also scheduled the same change to arrive on its Android app and the web “soon.”
With the update, Twitter gave the Home feed utmost priority, which is composed of top tweets and what the algorithm thinks you might like based on your interests. To access the latest tweets, you had to pin your Latest timeline, making it appear in its dedicated tab.
According to Twitter, the new changes would make the Home (algorithm-driven) and Latest timelines “a swipe away.” However, it appears that Twitter users disagreed with the company’s change. Nearly four days later, the company reversed the controversial change that was majorly aimed at forcing its algorithm-driven feed to everyone.
In a Twitter Support update, the social media platform said “We heard you—some of you always want to see latest Tweets first. We’ve switched the timeline back and removed the tabbed experience for now while we explore other options.”
Why Is Twitter Desperate to Serve an Algorithmic Feed?
It’s clear by now that social media platforms prefer everyone to use an algorithmic feed. For starters, an algorithmic feed serves content based on relevancy. Relevancy of the content depends on what the algorithm thinks you like or might like. On the other hand, a reverse-chronological feed shows the latest content from users that you follow.
Thankfully, some social media platforms let you choose which one to use. Here’s how to disable algorithmic feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Twitter has been trying to force an algorithm-driven feed down its users’ throats, but that has not been successful. It begs you to ask why the company is so desperate to promote its algorithmic feed in the first place.
The main reason why Twitter and other social media platforms prefer an algorithmic feed is that it gets you hooked on their platforms. As a matter of fact, this is the primary intent behind social media algorithms. It’s inherent in how social media algorithms work.
Social media algorithms capitalize on the fact that you will stay much longer if you see relatable content. Anything that doesn’t cement your beliefs will certainly not be displayed.
So, as you may have already noticed, if you like a tweet under a given topic, you will likely see more of them. This isn’t by surprise—that’s how Twitter tunes its algorithms.
And the longer you stay, the more you are served by ads and the more money these platforms make. Additionally, Twitter and every other social media platform make it easy for you to keep coming back through this model.
That way, they get to retain their current active users and attract even more. Ultimately, this leads to more ad impressions and more revenue for them.
Reclaim Your Twitter Feed
To Twitter and other social media platforms—an algorithmic feed is better than a reverse-chronological one. Twitter’s obsession with an algorithmic feed is based on what the company gains by getting more users hooked.
But as long as there’s an option to see a reverse-chronological feed, you should use it on Twitter because, like many, you probably want to see the latest tweets.
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