X is moving towards AI powered algorithm which would show users more of what they are interest in as it would keep users engaged so that they come back to the platform every day. This is an interesting concept but the reality will be different from expectation.
X wants users to explore their interests in a better man and build a community of like-minded and like interested users depending on their posts. Provided that 80% of the X users neither comment or engage at all in the app and this would be quite the challenge and this is what Bier and his team mates are looking to address.
This AI would be AI by November with significant improvements along the way. It would be open sourced every two weeks or so and by November or December, one would be able to adjust their feed dynamically by asking Grok.
Algorithm would be prompted by you as you would ask Grok to re adjust the feed depending on whichever post you like or not. Threads has also been experimenting with the same thing. As AI systems are able to extract topics from the original post and as it automates the editing process for the profile, the explicit instructions tend to a bigger ruling factor over the individual experiences. It would be worthwhile to see how much influence these prompts have on the feed.
People have already been spoilt by automation, take the case of TikTok, one can go through the For You feed and there is no need to follow or engage with anyone and all you it will do is adjust to your interests depending upon watch time and other factors and for this very reason, it is hard for people to follow your profile than has been in the past as we have become accustomed to interest algorithms doing the work for us so we don’t require the need to follow people to see what they are liking. It is unsure whether users will be active in sending through explicit instructions to the algorithm. It would be adding an extra level of control and customization which would be catering to.
Users might be saying that they are looking for privacy and data control but at the end of the day they should be able to dictate how much information can be used but finally what matters is convenience for people.
Decentralized social has still not caught on and building a following is harder because if given a choice, people would want to take up an easier path and let algorithm dictate their experience. Algorithm tend to give better results as users prefer ease of use over any other thing.
Meta has also been working on the same where AI powered users have been engaging with users on their topic of interest and given an illusion that they have found engaged audience in their app. This is similar to cheating the system but it would be driving more engagement. Similar to notes on security checks, one can imagine many people would be able to overlook the likelihood that their followers are bots.
This looks simpler as when you post, they like it and you feel happy. You get to see more of the same, there is less of friction with fewer negative comments, with better user experience and all without having to do anything to manually refining your approach.
This is another option which platforms would be exploring in the days to come.
