Twitter swaps out a chronological feed for TikTok’s For You Page

Shaun
Jan 11, 2023
Updated • Jan 11, 2023
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Musk ‘taking over Twitter’ meant to be a good thing? I seem to remember all sorts of talk about privacy, freedom, security, and other such pipe dreams. Alas, promises about how much Twitter was due to become seem to be indistinguishable from those 4AM rants we so often make and never follow through with. If you were looking forward to Twitter becoming a more following-centric space where you can keep up to date with the lives of people who actually matter, you’re in for a massive shock. 

Twitter has decided, in the company’s infinite wisdom, to set the new For You page as the default when you open the app. Oh! You didn’t know? Twitter has a For You page now. This is essentially where all the meaningless drivel that an algorithm assumes you might interact with appears. 

Related: Was Musk’s Twitter verification crusade all just marketing?

Twitter ditches reverse-chronological feed for a For You Page

The change was first picked up on iOS where users noticed that the star icon at the top right-hand side of the interface had disappeared. No longer can you use this icon to switch between which feed is most important to you. Instead, you will now be automatically served algorithmic nonsense whenever you open the Twitter app. The newly ‘improved’ Twitter interface now features two tabs. One is labeled For You, and the other, Following. 

The For You space share’s a name with TikTok’s vacuous feature, marking yet another instance where Twitter boffins have been unable to come up with an original idea. As previously stated, the For You tab is powered by an algorithm that will serve up new content every so often tailored to whatever you interact with. The idea behind this algorithmic system is to keep users entertained and, therefore, use the app for longer, sapping your energy, reducing your drive and ability to concentrate on anything that requires a little more thought, and generally taking over your life. You know, as social media is designed to do. 

Related: How to disable Twitter’s new interface and get the old design back

If you’re using the Twitter app on Android or the internet, you’ll be spared the disappointing new interface for a short while longer. However, rest assured, the change will come for us all. If you prefer the reverse chronological order, it may be time to switch to a new social network, or better yet, give up social networks entirely. There’s a whole physical world beyond your smart devices that are dying to be explored.

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Comments

  1. Dennis said on January 12, 2023 at 12:45 am
    Reply

    I, as a fellow enlightened aspirant to full Ruling Class membership status, share your concerns regarding the poors’ exposure to Misinformation, Disinformation, Hate Speech, Conspiracy Theories, Outright Lies, and other dangerous Novelties and Heresies that they may become disaffected and hard to govern as we guide them to the Inevitable Utopia In Our Time…

    WE know enough to not read that rubbish, but I’m not so sure about Susie Six-Pack and Larry Lunchbox! IYKWIMAITYD…….

    Shame on you, Mr. Musk!

  2. Yash said on January 11, 2023 at 9:58 pm
    Reply

    No twitter account, so no app. Nitter is the way to go. Atleast until Twitter turns to Truth Social. I’m looking to forward to that day next month.

  3. Anonymous said on January 11, 2023 at 7:19 pm
    Reply

    Looks like its time to finally stop going to Twitter.

  4. Anonymous said on January 11, 2023 at 4:55 pm
    Reply

    twitter became a security nightmare for users. With all the fired staff, i strongly doubt the remaining staff is able to handle security as it needs to be handled. And there have been already enough breaches when twitter had 2x the employees. if you’re dependent on contacting twitter staff in case your acc got locked eg. b/c ai misinterpreted your rocket pictures for nsfw content (what happened alot lately) youre totally lost, b/c there isnt any human contact you could talk about your case. you get stuck in an unsolvable loop of automated resonses. (that is valid for all big socal natworks, no human contact once youre locked out) Besides that, we now also have the sociopath, errata tinfoil Musk with all his complexes ..w/o anyone controlling him so, is there anyone out there who can assure, that eg. musk doesnt read all the private dms of persons of his interests? ;)

  5. Service Pack said on January 11, 2023 at 4:28 pm
    Reply

    Time to delete Twitter, I guess…

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