Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk, announced on Friday that the social media giant will make “literally everything” open source, in line with his pledge to promote transparency on the platform. The move is part of Musk’s efforts to make Twitter’s platform more transparent by making its algorithm open source. Last year, Twitter’s founder, Jack Dorsey, said that the platform’s algorithm should have been open, and voiced regret that it became a company instead of a protocol not owned by anyone.
Twitter’s decision to open source parts of its algorithm is a significant shift in the company’s direction. This will allow the public to inspect and scrutinize the social media company’s proprietary software, pitch their ideas to developers on how to change Twitter’s code, or even use the algorithm in their own applications.
However, Twitter’s recent changes to its blue check verification system have been met with opposition, especially by users who do not wish to spend money to use the service. Plans for what is now called Twitter Blue cost $8 a month or $84 a year, or $11 a month if bought through Apple’s App Store. Those who do not subscribe will lose the blue check mark beside their account names.
Mr Musk defended his controversial pay model on Friday, arguing in a Twitter question-and-answer that social media platforms that do not emulate this would be swarmed by bots, which would result in their failure.
The move to open-source parts of its algorithm is not the only step that Twitter has taken to improve its platform. Mr Musk said last month that Twitter also plans to use artificial intelligence to curb the manipulation of public opinion on the platform. It is unclear whether this has any connection with Mr Musk’s reported assembling of a team, which includes a former engineer at a unit of Google parent Alphabet, to develop a rival to OpenAI’s text-based chatbot ChatGPT.
However, Mr Musk’s attention to Twitter’s algorithm has led to more controversy. In February, he was accused of manipulating Twitter’s algorithm to extend the reach of his own tweets. He instructed engineers to adjust the algorithm to allow his tweets to gain traction, resulting in a flood of his messages appearing on users’ feeds, Platformer.
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