Elon Musk explains algorithm of X, calls it 'not smart enough to realise' user is enraged by post

Social media users generally expect the algorithm to read their area of interest and give similar suggestions. But that may not be the case with X.

X owner Elon Musk tried to explain why completely unrelated content may appear on the timeline of the social media platform.

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Explaining the algorithm of X, tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote, "The X algorithm assumes that if you interact with content, you want to see more of that content. One of the strongest signals is if you forward X posts to friends, it assumes you like that content a lot, because it takes effort to forward. Unfortunately, if the actual reason you forwarded the content to friends was because you /were outraged by it, we are currently not smart enough to realise that."

Musk shared the post on September 2. Since it was shared, the post received nearly 10 million views.

Here's how netizens reacted to Musk's post

"I love that X continues to adapt the algo and support all users, including smaller accounts. Premium is so worth it when you make it all back and some in ad revenue," wrote a user.

Watch:Elon Musk's X banned in Brazil after disinformation row

"Speaking of X, in-app search needs a lot of work, and I think some sort of integration with Grok would be very useful For example, I wanted to find a video of a meme I wanted to send to someone. I couldn't find the meme by typing what it was on 𝕏 search, but when I asked Grok about the same meme, it quoted posts using the meme. Grok's explore feature has been exceptional. Now I want elements of it included in search results somehow," said another user.

"Can we all agree that THIS is the exact reason that we need a dislike button? If Likes are hidden, we can hide Dislikes, but at least the algorithm can assume that if we share something but dislike it, then we don't like it and we don't have to see more.....," wrote a third user.

"The X algorithm was amazing in December of 2022 and June of 2023. That was the pinnacle of greatness. It’s been downhill since then for a few reasons. Right now, it’s the least effective it’s ever been. It was pretty good about a month ago, too," commented another user.

(With inputs from agencies)