(NewsGlobal.com)- Elon Musk tweeted over the weekend that users on Twitter are being “manipulated” by the news stream algorithm used by the social networking site.
Musk said that the algorithm controls people in ways they don’t recognize, adding that it is extremely essential to pay attention to and fix your Twitter feed.
Musk explained how.
He said one should click the star in the top right corner of the screen, and then select “latest tweets” from the drop-down menu that appears.
Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and a former CEO, reacted to Musk’s tweet by saying that the function was developed solely with the purpose of helping users save time when they return to the app after a break.
Dorsey said when you “pull to refresh, it also takes you back to the reverse chronological order.”
Dorsey countered that the function was not intended to be used to manipulate the reader. He said that the function may undoubtedly “have unforeseen implications,” even though it was designed to catch you up and “work off what you engage with.”
Dorsey stressed that this “is the reason why one should be allowed to pick if they utilize an algorithm or not, and which one,” claiming that this is a “simple solution to all of this.”
Musk clarified his initial comments on Twitter. He’s not suggesting that the algorithm is malicious; rather, he was implying that it’s trying to guess what you might be interested in reading. Doing so may inadvertently manipulate or amplify your viewpoints without your knowledge. Not to mention the possibility of errors in the programming. When it comes to trustworthiness and efficiency, open-source software is the best solution.
Musk has made the Twitter algorithm a primary topic of conversation since he wants it to be open-source to increase users’ levels of trust in the network.
Musk has stated that his $44 billion purchase of Twitter is “temporarily on pause” but that he is “still dedicated to its acquisition.”
The company Square now owns Twitter.
