X is a platform built for combat (they say they’re fixing it)

Stevie Bonifield: X admits its broken algorithm made the site feel like a ‘battleground’

X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, admitted in a post on Monday that X’s algorithm was “missing” data about surfacing posts from people who you’ve followed back. Now, he says a tweak will “boost visibility of your posts to your mutuals,” hopefully enhancing the sense of community instead of highlighting and spreading random arguments, but didn’t explain how the data went missing in the first place.

I’ve used X a little bit here and there over the past few months, and one of the things that became very clear to me very quickly is that it is a platform built for combat. Sure, the nature of social media, especially ones with algorithmic timelines is that you’re going to see content you disagree with and you’re going to want to argue with people, but it truly is to a different level on X. Apparently, there was a very specific reason for that.