Elon Musk Reveals He Will Unveil Major Twitter Secret on March 31 - 'We Hope to Earn Your Trust'
Elon Musk is making a massive move toward further transparency at Twitter, and other social media companies should take note.
On Friday, Musk took to Twitter to announce that “Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st.”
This means that on March 31, Musk will reveal the source code for how the Twitter algorithm works.
Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, Musk said that the current algorithm was “overly complex” and that the company would be working to simplify it. “People will discover many silly things,” he said, “but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found!”
He also added, “we hope to earn your trust.”
Our “algorithm” is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things , but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found!
We’re developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it’s still a work in progress. That’ll also… https://t.co/uxxJe3RT36
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2023
But perhaps the most significant part of his announcement came in a tweet sent a bit later, saying that Twitter would try to figure out how the algorithm manipulates public opinion. “In the months ahead, we will use AI to detect & highlight manipulation of public opinion on this platform.”
In the months ahead, we will use AI to detect & highlight manipulation of public opinion on this platform.
Let’s see what the psy ops cat drags in …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023
This is a huge announcement, because a social media company is finally being transparent about its recommendations and visibility. This will reveal to the public how Twitter decides what content users see.
Musk has already proven himself committed to transparency at Twitter, as he recently released the so-called “Twitter files,” which revealed how, under the previous management, Twitter colluded with the federal government and the left to silence opposition.
This latest move by Musk, however, has the potential to be even bigger than the Twitter files because, as Musk’s last tweet said, we may finally get to see how Twitter manipulates public opinion on certain issues.
We may finally have confirmation that the current Twitter algorithm does indeed have a left-wing bias that leads to the suppression of conservative content on the site while promoting left-wing content to its users.
If Musk follows through with his promises to open-source the code and to fix the algorithm if it is faulty, he will indeed have gained the public’s trust, and Twitter may finally be able to hold its head high again.
Other social media companies need to take note of this and follow Musk’s example. Big Tech has, understandably, lost a ton of credibility with Americans over the past few years.
Many argue that these companies are being used to push left-wing narratives and expose children to harmful content. The lack of concern by the management of these companies has only made their public image worse.
But if other social media companies follow Musk’s lead and are willing to be more transparent and fix problems with their algorithms, they can regain the trust of the public, and maybe social media won’t be so harmful.
Musk’s move to release the source coding for the algorithm is the first of many steps that we need to take in order to fix Big Tech.
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