Is Twitter really changing its algorithm to be more like Facebook?
#RIPTwitter was the trending hashtag on Twitter Saturday, as angry users protested the social networking site鈥檚 rumored algorithm changes.
Currently, Twitter arranges tweets in chronological order.听
But that the social networking site plans to reorder its content. Using an algorithm similar to Facebook鈥檚, according to BuzzFeed, Twitter will put more value on tweets users might like to see. Instead of a home page with a chronological log of all followers鈥� tweets, the new system would elevate specific tweets to the top of the feed, regardless of when they were published.听
In other words, the Twitter algorithm would decide which tweets get shown and which don鈥檛, just as Facebook reorganizes and filters users鈥� News Feed by predicting favorable content.听
And the response by Twitter users was almost unanimously negative.听
鈥淥ne of the great rewards of being an adult is deciding ON YOUR OWN who (and what) you should be interested in. #RIPTwitter鈥� Actor Rob Lowe tweeted Saturday.听
鈥淒ear Twitter, don鈥檛 try to be like Facebook, #RIPTwitter,鈥� tweeted @dearcalumthood on Saturday.听
@YouHadOneJ0B, a parody account with 183,000 followers, tweeted this picture Sunday morning to convey what they saw as Twitter鈥檚 copycat move:
And Ello, a competing, ad-free, social networking site, tweeted this:
CEO Jack Dorsey to try and quell the anxiety of his site鈥檚 974 million users with a series of tweets.
And while Dorsey鈥檚 tweets may have dispelled some fears, he avoided falsifying the rumors outright. He said the company has no plans to reorder timelines next week 鈥� leaving open the possibility of change after that.听聽
Despite the negative feedback, Dorsey is likely trying to find a real answer to some real problems, as Digital Times editor Stephen Conmy says:聽
Twitter鈥檚 algorthim-free content sometimes .听
In August 2014 when Ferguson, Missouri broke out in violence over alleged police brutality, Twitter feeds were flooded with live videos, tweets and pictures. But because the events were not yet circulating on popular news platforms that feed Facebook鈥檚 algorithm, relevant content on Facebook was delayed.听聽
鈥�,鈥� Zeynep Tufekci wrote in a piece for The Message, referencing the news delay on Facebook. And if it weren鈥檛 for Twitter鈥檚 unfiltered content, she asks, 鈥淲ould [Ferguson] ever make it through the algorithmic filtering on Facebook?鈥澛�
And while Twitter may come out on top when it comes to breaking news, it is definitely falling far behind Facebook in revenue. Twitter has essentially failed to add any new American users in 2015 and , running at a loss of $132 million after taxes.
鈥淚t would make the company and, in turn, much more valuable,鈥� Jason Stein, CEO of social media agency Laundry Service, told BuzzFeed in 2015 when algorithm rumors first started to form.听
The bleak finances at Twitter have accompanied a realignment of leadership roles. Founder Jack Dorsey was in hopes of reviving the fortunes of a perpetually second-tier social media site. 聽聽
鈥淭he [natural] order is cherished by Twitter鈥檚 core users, with many arguing its organic surfacing of news and conversations is ,鈥� explains BuzzFeed. But 鈥淢ost ad agencies are not set up to buy ads on the fly鈥eaning they miss out on the most valuable part of Twitter, its real time nature, and can鈥檛 make [ad] campaigns that fit in.鈥�
