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With Twitter’s gradual shift from chronological timeline to overeager algorithmic shuffle, even if Musk unblocks everyone, users could conceivably not be served

With Twitter’s gradual shift from chronological timeline to overeager algorithmic shuffle, even if Musk unblocks everyone, users could conceivably not be served a tweet that would fall under SEC regulation based solely on the algorithm deciding they would “engage” more with other content.

josteink 8y ago
> With Twitter’s gradual shift from chronological timeline to overeager algorithmic shuffle .... deciding they would “engage” more with other content. Ironically, every time I notice a platform I use doing this, it immediate reduces my engagement for it. I can’t be the only one, can I?
- TheJoYo 8y ago
  https://mastodon.social/@HackerNewsBot https://mastodon.social/@HackerNewsBot Mastodon is always chronological.
- jonknee 8y ago
  > I can’t be the only one, can I? No, but as long as more people go the opposite direction it is a net positive. Considering it's seemingly the natural progression of timelines I am guessing the numbers show that this is the case.
  - Retric 8y ago
    Companies do dumb stuff all the time. As long as the numbers look good in the short term you can end up with stuff like open office plans becoming common even if they are a large net loss.
    - jonknee 8y ago
      And tech nerds do dumb stuff all the time too like wanting to nerotically "finish" a timeline of tweets. I think it makes tons of sense that Twitter wants to show its best content to more people than whoever happens to be on the timeline at the exact moment it's posted. It's frustrating sometimes, but you can use TweetDeck and get a firehose anytime you'd like.
      - Retric 8y ago
        It’s not uncommon for someone to give birth outside of a hospital and often without a midwife, so you can just apply for one. http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/19/baby-born-while-mom-is-stuck-in-an-elevator-just-add-it-to-the-list-of-weird-birthing-locals/ http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/19/baby-born-while-mom-is...
jrockway 8y ago
I'm not sure I agree. I assume that the SEC is fine if you take out an ad in the New York Times to announce your news, but that requires that people know to read the ads there, that they can afford a copy of the newspaper, etc. There is no such thing as a method of notifying everyone simultaneously. Posting to a public Twitter account is as good as anything else.
- lovich 8y ago
  There's a difference between you possibly being unaware of where to find such information vs someone actively blocking you.
- jonknee 8y ago
  Well the times allows anyone to buy it, it doesn't specifically block certain people from reading. This isn't a big issue, every other CEO other than Elon Musk has no problem controlling his/her tweets to not contain market moving news. They should make an example out of him and we'll go back to having everyone disclose news in the proper channels. If the SEC does not come down on him it will be the wild west and investors will be worse off.
  - zaroth 8y ago
    My personal opinion is that Twitter is perfect for breaking news that should be distributed fairly to the largest audience possible without giving anyone an advance look at the news. At the same time, people need to understand that there’s a limit to how much (and how precisely) you can communicate in 140 characters, and that means Twitter can alert you to the headline. It’s beholden upon users to take the time to ask questions and fill in the details. As far as certain user accounts being blocked - the SEC requires announcements are distributed publically, not universally. Anyone can watch Elon’s twitter feed in incognito mode. The SEC doesn’t require that breaking news show up in every single Twitter feed universally. They simply require that anyone can make the effort to be able to receive the news. If that means following Elon on a separate account where you don’t harass him to the point of blocking you, that’s not exactly a major impediment.
  - 8y ago

josteink 8y ago

> With Twitter’s gradual shift from chronological timeline to overeager algorithmic shuffle .... deciding they would “engage” more with other content. Ironically, every time I notice a platform I use doing this, it immediate reduces my engagement for it. I can’t be the only one, can I?

TheJoYo 8y ago
https://mastodon.social/@HackerNewsBot https://mastodon.social/@HackerNewsBot Mastodon is always chronological.
jonknee 8y ago
> I can’t be the only one, can I? No, but as long as more people go the opposite direction it is a net positive. Considering it's seemingly the natural progression of timelines I am guessing the numbers show that this is the case.
- Retric 8y ago
  Companies do dumb stuff all the time. As long as the numbers look good in the short term you can end up with stuff like open office plans becoming common even if they are a large net loss.
  - jonknee 8y ago
    And tech nerds do dumb stuff all the time too like wanting to nerotically "finish" a timeline of tweets. I think it makes tons of sense that Twitter wants to show its best content to more people than whoever happens to be on the timeline at the exact moment it's posted. It's frustrating sometimes, but you can use TweetDeck and get a firehose anytime you'd like.
    - Retric 8y ago
      It’s not uncommon for someone to give birth outside of a hospital and often without a midwife, so you can just apply for one. http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/19/baby-born-while-mom-is-stuck-in-an-elevator-just-add-it-to-the-list-of-weird-birthing-locals/ http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/19/baby-born-while-mom-is...

jrockway 8y ago

I'm not sure I agree. I assume that the SEC is fine if you take out an ad in the New York Times to announce your news, but that requires that people know to read the ads there, that they can afford a copy of the newspaper, etc. There is no such thing as a method of notifying everyone simultaneously. Posting to a public Twitter account is as good as anything else.

lovich 8y ago
There's a difference between you possibly being unaware of where to find such information vs someone actively blocking you.
jonknee 8y ago
Well the times allows anyone to buy it, it doesn't specifically block certain people from reading. This isn't a big issue, every other CEO other than Elon Musk has no problem controlling his/her tweets to not contain market moving news. They should make an example out of him and we'll go back to having everyone disclose news in the proper channels. If the SEC does not come down on him it will be the wild west and investors will be worse off.
- zaroth 8y ago
  My personal opinion is that Twitter is perfect for breaking news that should be distributed fairly to the largest audience possible without giving anyone an advance look at the news. At the same time, people need to understand that there’s a limit to how much (and how precisely) you can communicate in 140 characters, and that means Twitter can alert you to the headline. It’s beholden upon users to take the time to ask questions and fill in the details. As far as certain user accounts being blocked - the SEC requires announcements are distributed publically, not universally. Anyone can watch Elon’s twitter feed in incognito mode. The SEC doesn’t require that breaking news show up in every single Twitter feed universally. They simply require that anyone can make the effort to be able to receive the news. If that means following Elon on a separate account where you don’t harass him to the point of blocking you, that’s not exactly a major impediment.
- 8y ago