Some Twitter users, even those who do not follow Elon Musk, say their For You feed was full of his tweets and replies after changes made over the weekend
For many of us, Twitter's “For You” is full of tweets and replies to tweets from Elon Musk. Not everyone is getting the Elon-first feed …
The Verge Emma Roth
Context & Ripple Effects
The weekend feed change followed reports that Musk had dismissed an engineer who attributed falling engagement to waning popularity, putting unusual weight on how Twitter's recommendation system treated its owner. Later reporting on the For You code described an "elon" user category used to protect algorithm tweaks, giving the episode a clearer place in Twitter's evolving feed governance.
First-order effects
- Users who did not opt in to Musk's posts saw their For You recommendations displaced by his tweets and replies, while Musk received broader distribution through Twitter's main discovery feed.
- Twitter's feed team was pushed to treat the owner's reach as an operational concern rather than solely a result of follower choice or ordinary ranking.
Second-order effects
- Other authors competing for placement in For You faced less available recommendation inventory when Musk's posts were repeatedly inserted into users' feeds.
- The later code-level grouping of authors, including an "elon" cohort, formalized the kind of preferential-ranking concern exposed by the feed change.
Third-order effects
- If owner-specific safeguards become a recurring part of ranking systems, Twitter shifts from a neutral-seeming recommendation product toward a platform where management can directly shape whose speech gets distribution.
- The episode illustrates how disputes over Musk's engagement can become product and engineering decisions, concentrating editorial-like power in platform ownership.
The trend: Twitter's For You feed is becoming a focal point for platform-gatekeeper leverage as owner priorities are embedded in recommendation decisions.
Related: Platform gatekeeper leverage · Twitter · Elon Musk · For You code’s author categories · Report on Musk firing an engineer
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Discussion
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@drewharwell@mastodon.social
Drew Harwell
on mastodon
Surely this has nothing to do with Elon Musk firing an engineer because his tweets weren't popular enough — https://www.theverge.com/...
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@oneunderscore__
Ben Collins
on x
My entire For You page is Elon Musk, and I'm not alone. https://www.theverge.com/...
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@elonmusk
Elon Musk
on x
Please stay tuned while we make adjustments to the uh .... “algorithm”
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@wongmjane
Jane Manchun Wong
on x
Pretty innovative! Instead of starting a newsletter or personal blog, Twitter itself becomes his personal blog https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@chai_coffee_etc
Reshma
on x
Does anyone else see Elon Musk everywhere on their feed or is it just me? https://twitter.com/...
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@taylorlorenz
Taylor Lorenz
on x
The engineers there trying extra hard not to get fired https://twitter.com/...
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@randfish
Rand Fishkin
on x
Interesting product strategy. https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@rjcc
Richard Lawler
on x
For whatever reason, my FYP doesn't have this problem, but it's popping up on a lot of accounts. https://twitter.com/...
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@anothercohen
Alex Cohen
on x
I guess the Twitter engineers got the memo to juice Elon's view counts because now he's all I see in my feed https://twitter.com/...
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@ashishmohta
Ashish Mohta
on x
Muted, and the timeline is clean! https://twitter.com/...
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@bruce_arthur
Bruce Arthur
on x
Twitter engineers must just love the job right now https://twitter.com/...
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@lulumeservey
Lulu Cheng Meservey
on x
The “For you” PM is taking no risks https://twitter.com/...
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@althistoryhub
Cody
on x
Is anyone else's feed flooded with Elon Musk's activity.
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@volksverpetzer
@volksverpetzer
on x
Ok wow https://www.theverge.com/...
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@deanmillson
Dean Millson
on x
My whole ‘For you’ feed is essentially just Elon. Is this the engineers who are left trying not to get fired too? https://twitter.com/...
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@tittertakeover
@tittertakeover
on x
NEWS: Elon PARDONS all of his blocked accounts on Twitter. https://twitter.com/...
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@elonmusk
Elon Musk
on x
@TitterTakeover I did delete all blocks from my account (shouldn't affect anyone else)
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@mehdirhasan
Mehdi Hasan
on x
Lol. He's so thirsty for attention. https://twitter.com/...
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@byjasonng
Jason Ng
on x
I recommend muting or blocking if you're not interested in the man-child's antics. https://www.theverge.com/...
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@noah_l
Noah Lichtenstein
on x
Literally not a single post in my home feed—not one—is a post that @elonmusk didn't make or comment on. I'm no Elon hater, but I think the algo needs some tweaking if this is supposed to be an independent and unbiased platform🤔 https://twitter.com/...
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@sassal0x
@sassal0x
on x
Why are Elon's tweets all over my feed? Did he seriously modify the algorithm so that his tweets show up first to everyone on twitter?
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@helenkennedy
Helen Kennedy
on x
He fired one of the last engineers for explaining to him that fewer people are interested in his tweets lately. So the remaining ones rigged it so the default is you have to look at them. https://twitter.com/...
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@followtheh
Tom Hearden
on x
Every day the mask slips. https://twitter.com/...
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@fchollet
@fchollet
on x
I tried checking the “for you” tab after reading this, and uhh https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@anthony
Anthony DeRosa
on x
For You is For Him https://twitter.com/...
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@intelwire
@intelwire
on x
Twitter is now one guy's Substack https://twitter.com/...
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@cameronwilson
Cameron Wilson
on x
Elon Musk turning Twitter's algorithm into just serving his tweets is literally beyond parody https://twitter.com/...
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@chockenberry@mastodon.social
Craig Hockenberry
on mastodon
This is like the ex you can't break up with.
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@twitterdev
@twitterdev
on x
There has been an immense amount of enthusiasm for the upcoming changes with Twitter API. As part of our efforts to create an optimal experience for the developer community, we will be delaying the launch of our new API platform by a few more days. More information to follow... h…
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@lloydmiller
@lloydmiller
on x
Enthusiasm? Is that what you call it? https://twitter.com/...
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@chancethedev
@chancethedev
on x
This is a top tier comedy tweet https://twitter.com/...
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@mehedih_
Mehedi
on x
Everyone's so excited about our changes that we are delaying it! (Me when I lie) https://twitter.com/...
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@meddhiah
Mohamed Dhia Hammami
on x
For those unfamiliar with the way autocratic rulers justify their failures, this is what it usually sounds like. https://twitter.com/...
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@davewiner
Dave Winer
on x
This reads like a Trump press release. https://twitter.com/...
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@japanmerchfess
@japanmerchfess
on x
The amount of roller coaster feeling we got every time we check if the DM still functioning- It's concerning. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@martinsfp
@martinsfp
on x
Twitter trips up over another unrealistic deadline. https://twitter.com/...
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@film_girl
Christina Warren
on x
This would be funnier if so many devs/hackers/makers/businesses/ creators weren't being dicked around over this sort of insanity. And I'm talking about people that already pay Twitter money, as well as the people that make Twitter valuable and worth using. https://twitter.com/...
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@golikehellmachi
@golikehellmachi
on x
e.g., we can't figure out how to make it work without breaking multiple other parts of twitter and we're trying to figure out how to lie to elon about it https://twitter.com/...
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@kottke
@kottke
on x
These updates about the Twitter API continue to be insulting and full of bullshit. Enthusiasm. Optimal experience. What a bunch of crap. https://twitter.com/...
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@film_girl
Christina Warren
on x
The irony too is all the unofficial APIs that I bet will still work and that people can use without login or with burner accounts if they need to do certain stuff.
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@cubicleapril
April King
on x
enthusiasm (noun): “we got so many responses to our original proposal” https://twitter.com/...
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@stokel
@stokel
on x
My latest for @WIRED looks at the impact on academic research of Twitter's API u-turn that came into force today, featuring @davidlazer, @RebekahKTromble, @lorenz_spreen and @jhblackb https://www.wired.com/...
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@dfreelon
Deen Freelon
on x
Because if there's anything that makes people enthusiastic, it's paying for something that used to be free. https://twitter.com/...
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@edzitron
Ed Zitron
on x
i would like to meet the person who was enthusiastic (who doesn't work at Twitter and is not named Elon Musk) https://twitter.com/...
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@johnpaczkowski
John Paczkowski
on x
the best, most beautiful enthusiasm, I'll bet https://twitter.com/...
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@appleinsider
@appleinsider
on x
Without just hours of advance notice before the deadline, Twitter has delayed its new paid API rollout by a few more days. https://appleinsider.com/... https://twitter.com/...