Dec 8, 22 | 5 min read
recommended tweets for everyone
Reading time: 4 minutes
If you like to interact with Twitter and keep up with its latest updates, you might already know that the platform is going through some changes lately and that the algorithm feed is a recurring topic . Not coincidentally, Twitter’s most recent announcement shows us that the algorithm feed is now a reality for everyone: they are expanding recommended tweets to reach all users .
According to their own statement , “ we want to make sure everyone on Twitter sees the best content on the platform ,” so in the future, everyone will receive recommended tweets, including those who haven’t seen them in the past.
As you can imagine, once again, the news was not very well received by users. If you look at the comments on Twitter's announcement, people claim that they only want to see posts from people they follow and want to be able to define what they find interesting without Twitter's help.
It feels like déjà vu, doesn’t it? Well, when we said “once again,” it’s because this already happened on the bluebird network last year.
In October 2021 , Twitter tried to replace the usual chronological feed with the algorithm feed. Obviously, people hated it and we could see the same kind of comments we are seeing now.
At that point, Twitter took a step back and created the spark icon to allow people to choose between the two sources:
Recent , the chronological feed with tweets only from accounts you follow;
Home , the algorithm's feed of list of suriname consumer email recommended tweets based on your interests and behavior, along with your next tweets.
To ease the hearts of Twitter users, at the end of the day and regardless of the changes, Twitter still wants you to use the platform on your own terms and therefore this feed option remains available, despite Twitter's recent statement.
This means that even though they are expanding recommended tweets to all users, users still have the option to browse between the two types of feeds, one of which is completely algorithm-free.
What can we expect from Twitter’s algorithmic feed?
Since 2016 , Twitter has been trying to create an algorithmic feed and now it seems to be here to stay.
Personally, I think this is a move that makes a lot of sense. When a social media platform chooses to recommend content, it's because it wants you to spend more time interacting with it: with more content at your disposal, you'll have more and more to see and, consequently, you'll spend more and more time on it.
And it makes perfect sense for Twitter (450 monthly active users) to go down that route, once it's competing for your attention with two giants that already have an algorithmic feed:
Instagram (2 billion monthly active users);
TikTok (1 billion monthly active users).
So, since Twitter’s algorithmic feed is here to stay, what can we expect from it moving forward?
Two different feeds for users to choose from
As we mentioned, Twitter has two feed options: Recent and Home , and they assure us that this is not going to change (at least for now). To make it easier for users to navigate between the two feeds and know which one they are scrolling through, Twitter is testing new designs with the aim of improving the user experience.
High standards for tweet recommendations
The main challenge of the algorithmic feed, as you can imagine, is to recommend relevant, healthy and authentic content .
To make this work, the company is committed to working closely with its Health, Trust & Safety, and Machine Learning Ethics teams to ensure that high-quality content is recommended.
Plus, they seem to be aiming to be very transparent about this matter: the company's VP of product management tweeted about their most recent effort to improve recommendations .
Different content formats
In the drive to drive more engagement on the platform and have even more content to share, Twitter is also testing different content formats, with the goal of creating a multimedia-sharing environment and giving brands and creators more ways to tell their stories.
They recently launched the Media feature , which allows creators and brands to upload up to 4 images, GIFs, and/or videos in the same tweet. We'll likely have recommended media tweets coming soon.
An open channel for feedback
Ok, so you know that users will be able to choose to browse the chronological feed if they prefer. But, for those who choose to explore the algorithmic feed, they will still be able to control the recommendations.
Users will have the power to mark “not interested in this tweet/topic” for recommended tweets, showing the algorithm what kind of content is welcome or not. This single action can provide an increasingly personalized, useful and entertaining feed , capable of learning from our feedback (or at least we hope so).
And how does Twitter’s algorithmic feed impact brands?
If you've made it this far, I know you're probably wondering what these changes mean for you and your brand, and the answer depends on your audience. If your audience is on Twitter, it's probably worth continuing to invest in this channel, despite these changes.
Taking a closer look, not all changes are bad for brands. The Multimedia feature, for example, increases the range of options for telling your brand story and allows you to build connections with your audience in different ways and formats. There's already a lot to explore here, right?
On top of that, algorithmic feeds may be controversial at the moment, when people seem to be a bit heated about everything that is happening in the land of the bluebird, but I would say that it could be a good opportunity for brands.
A few months ago, brands only had the chance to appear in the feed of someone who wasn't following them for a fee to promote their tweet - i.e. for a fee! Now, we're talking about relevant content.
The algorithmic feed opens (or reopens?) the discussion about the importance of speaking the same language as your audience.
