In good news that could be good for many, American billionaire Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the Twitter platform algorithm will become open source next week.
“Be prepared to be disappointed at first when our algorithm goes open source next week, but it will improve quickly,” he added in a tweet via Bluebird on Tuesday.
“more transparency”
The words of the owner of the Tesla came in response to the words of the user, who said that he would be “really impressed” if this happens.
Musk, who usually claims “absolute freedom of speech,” especially since he polled opinions of users to make important decisions on Twitter, has repeatedly supported the idea of making the platform’s algorithm open source in the past, reports Insider.
This was because he sees this feature as a step towards greater platform transparency.
Prepare to be disappointed at first when our algorithm goes open source next week, but it will improve rapidly!
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2023
What is “open source”?
It is argued that “open source” generally refers to software or source code that is publicly available for anyone to view, modify, and redistribute.
And in March last year, Musk conducted a survey among his followers about the discovery of the source code of the algorithm.
He tweeted at the time: “I am concerned that the bias in the Twitter algorithm will have a significant impact on public discourse… How do we know what is really going on?”
Last May, Musk tweeted that the algorithm was being manipulated in ways the user was unaware of.
He also said, “I’m not saying the algorithm is cheating, rather it’s trying to guess what you might want to read and in doing so it’s being manipulated to inadvertently reinforce your views without you realizing it’s happening.”
Thomas Davidson, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University and an expert on social media hate speech, has previously argued that opening the source code of the Twitter algorithm and making it available to researchers could help counter extremist speech and determine how it spreads.
Until Musk recently concluded that open source was the path to a solution that he felt was both reliable and efficient.
