On Friday, X owner Elon Musk announced an upcoming algorithm update aimed at promoting “more informational/entertaining content.” Musk elaborated on the “tweak” in a tweet:
He noted that “too much negativity is being pushed that technically grows user time, but not unregretted user time.” If you’ve encountered fight videos or crime clips on X, that might be what he’s referring to. Or perhaps he means posts criticizing his stance on H-1B visas? Musk doesn’t specify what kind of “negativity” the algorithm will target.
Why This Matters:
Is this an adtech story? It might be.
Musk’s description hints at a form of content moderation—a concept that he has largely seemed allergic to since he took over X in 2022. By reducing “negativity” and emphasizing “informational/entertaining content,” Musk is effectively introducing a brand safety element to X’s algorithm.
This raises an interesting dynamic. Since the election, Musk has repeatedly told users, “You are the media now,” positioning X as an alternative to traditional media. But traditional media often faces advertiser pushback over “hard news” and “negative” content. Now, X users—particularly those posting news or crime reports—may face similar challenges.
Some are already expressing frustration over the potential impact of the algorithm shift.
Ultimately, this shift could benefit X’s ad revenue by reassuring brands concerned about its brand safety. Combined with X’s expanded programmatic access for DSPs and the potential appeal to brands to align with the Trump administration—of which Musk is a vocal supporter—these changes may set the stage for a big rebound in ad revenue in 2025.
Experts React:
Wyze’s Matt Van Swol says Musk’s algo update is “censorship.”
Our Take:
While negativity undeniably drives engagement on social media—especially on X compared to more curated platforms like Instagram—shifting the focus to “informational/entertaining content” may backfire. This change risks flooding the platform with spam and low-quality AI-generated threads on evergreen topics. Think of it as the social media equivalent of Made-for-Advertising (MFA) junk, but instead of shady websites, it’s spam accounts posting for clout.
This could also penalize citizen journalism, an essential part of X’s ecosystem. The result? A poor user experience all around, even if brands find the new direction appealing. In many ways, X seems to be mirroring the challenges faced by the open web in recent years, trading authentic content for ad-friendly homogeneity.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino will be at CES 2025 this week so perhaps she’ll address this there.
