Since Elon Musk took over Twitter , now called X, the social network has undergone very important changes – from the name change to the strengthening of its premium services or the launch of its own Artificial Intelligence – but one of the changes that has most modified the way of using the platform has been the one that has “revolutionized” the functioning of the algorithm.
Traditionally, Twitter has shown users content posted by the people they follow chronologically, minimizing the use of algorithms on the social network. However, X now offers two different tabs for consuming content.
On the one hand, the “Following” tab continues to display posts published by the people you follow, sorted chronologically. However, a new tab called “For You” has been added, in which X’s algorithm decides which content to show to each person based on a series of variables.
This is a tab that attempts to mimic the successful operation of the “For You” tab on TikTok —also copied by other social networks such as Instagram with the Reels algorithm —and whose objective is to retain the user and get them to interact more with the content by providing them with posts that, according to the algorithm, could be of interest to them.
But… what are the variables that the X algorithm looks at to recommend content to users in the “For You” tab?
Variables that are taken into account to appear in the “For you” tab of X
Officially, these aren’t known, as the company hasn’t provided detailed information, but we do know some of the variables and rules that come into play when selecting recommended content for each user. They are as follows:
-Interactions from other users: X’s algorithm takes into account the interactions of other people we follow. If several of them like content posted by a third party, there’s a good chance it will end up being recommended to us in the “For You” tab.
-Replies: The X algorithm gives specific weight to responses and interactions users make with other content. For example, if you reply to a post with a comment or repost it, that response is more likely to be recommended to other users.
The platform gives you more visibility because it tries to encourage conversation by showing it to other people who don’t follow you so they can join the conversation.
The goal, however, is to limit the display of repeated conversations. That is, if one user’s response is given visibility, other people’s responses will not be given as much visibility, so that users aren’t repeatedly recommended the same conversation.
-Videos: If Twitter already wanted to be a video platform, X has set out to become even more of an audiovisual app and attract content creators. This is why X gives more weight to posts that contain native videos. So if you decide to upload videos on X, it will likely increase the reach of your posts.
-Images: Likewise, special emphasis is placed on the use of images on the platform. In fact, it’s recommended to use three or four images, forming a mosaic, when of interest to the user.
-News: Similarly, X wants to be the place where people find out the latest news and where users use the platform to stay informed. Therefore, it will promote the dissemination of breaking news and relevant information.
These contents can be recommended, on average, within 48 hours of publication. If they perform well in the first few hours, their reach will grow exponentially over time.
-External links: Posting content with links to other websites, and especially to other social networks, could limit the reach of that post.
