The opening of the algorithm is consistent

The outrage over the purchase of Twitter by Tesla founder Elon Musk is great. The short message service does not have nearly as much reach as other networks that were launched long after it. Nevertheless, the company with the cute blue bird in its logo enjoys a special status.

The network has become particularly dear to media makers, politicians and activists. This is where the Arab Spring was born; so does the Black Lives Matter movement. On some days, active Twitter users talk more to their followers than to their partner at home. The fact that a multi-billionaire buys their beloved network like others buy bread from the baker is annoying to many.

However, with all the anger that the Twitter purchase could be just another adolescent escapade for Musk, what is forgotten is that the purchase is also a promise – a promise of more transparency in a media world that is becoming more and more strictly tech-savvy. giants and their secret algorithms.

Prioritization remains a mystery

Anyone who searches Google for a restaurant, a new car or the cause of thigh pain can only guess why, of the 3.4 million results, the search hits that are displayed are the ones that are displayed at the top. Google has also started to merge previews of content from linked sites directly into regular Google search results. This means that users no longer need to leave the platform. Which content is selected for this remains a mystery.

The same goes for Facebook posts. Here, too, there is a lack of clarity about the logic according to which certain entries are displayed prominently in the timeline – while others are suppressed. Occasionally, information leaks out about how this selection is made. For example, it became known that Facebook sometimes gave higher weighting to user entries that could be classified as particularly emotional and controversial than those that only received a thumbs-up sign. Facebook did this because the platform found that users stayed longer on posts that annoyed them than on posts that made them happy. Facebook poured oil into the already burning digital fire.

Musk has announced that he will open up the algorithm

And this is where Elon Musk comes in. He boasted that he would make the mechanism of the Twitter algorithm public. More than that. Musk says that the source code should be made “open source”. Depending on the license, this means that everyone can not only view the algorithm, but can also develop it further according to their own taste.

The complete opening of the Twitter algorithm would be a sensation. And a first for Big Tech. Since their origins, Google and Facebook have argued that it is impossible to open their algorithm because this information could be misused to manipulate their platforms.

So Musk puts it to the test here. And it’s quite possible that exactly the opposite of what companies like Google and Facebook claim is happening. Opening up the algorithm could make it harder to manipulate the network. What is certain is that Twitter will be much easier to account for if the algorithm suppresses content and opinions.

More transparency is nothing but consistent

Basically, more transparency for social media companies is nothing more than consistent. According to American law – and to a lesser extent also according to EU and Swiss law – platforms are not responsible for the content of third parties. On Twitter, these are the more than 300 million users themselves. So why shouldn’t the actual producers of the content, who are also responsible for it themselves, not be allowed to understand exactly how their content is distributed?

Of course, there are still many questions about the opening of the Twitter algorithm: Are all parts really published freely available? Can it be further developed? But if the opening comes, the multi-billionaire Musk could actually succeed in ushering in a new and socially healthier era of social media use.