Thread by @AlexFinn

Engagement feel down for you?

It’s because you keep breaking the rules of the algorithm

I went through all 13,000 lines of code

Here are 6 landmines in the algo that are destroying your reach, and what you can do to fix it

🔶 You're following too many people

Following too many people will destroy your reach

The algo calculates your follow to following ratio, and if it's off, your engagement will suffer

It stinks this is a part of the algorithm, following should be encouraged

ACTION ITEMS

You want your following to be max 60% of your followers

If your ratio is off, DON'T start mass unfollowing people

You can get banned for unfollowing people too quick

Do this slowly over time

🔶 Interacting with low reputation accounts

Your reputation is partially based on the reputation of people you interact with

Reply to someone with a bad following ratio? Someone who talks about controversial topics?

You'll get dinged too

Tread carefully with your likes

ACTION ITEMS

Before interacting with ANYONE, quickly verify their account

Hover over their name and quickly view their follower/following ratio

Don't reply to comments under the "show more replies" button at the bottom

Build a strong network and stick to them

🔶 Talking about controversial topics

There are blacklisted topics you cannot talk about on this platform

It isn't available in the front end code, so you need to make your best guesses here on what they are

Best bet: don't get too spicy on your timeline

ACTION ITEMS

Talk about trending topics, but don't get too controversial

Put yourself in an advertiser's shoes.

If whatever you're talking about would make an advertiser uncomfortable, you probably don't want to talk about it

🔶 Using outside links

Using outside links immediately destroys your reach

It makes sense too, X doesn't want you leaving the platform

They want to keep you on here as long as possible

Allowing you to use outside links means you spend less time here

ACTION ITEMS

Never include outside links with your original post

If you need to include a link, reply to your original post with the link

By having it in the replies, it doesn't impact your reach too much

🔶 Using hashtags

Hashtags are dead

Not only are they ugly, but they now dock your reach

If you're still using hashtags it's time to move on

🔶 Don't be a jerk

There is code to detect if you're being offensive

Use harsh, aggressive language, and you're not going to be seen on the timeline

Like everything in life: just try to be a good person and everything will work out

All of these landmines can be summarized in one way:

Be a good person and create content that makes X a better place

The algo is constantly changing and I'm in the code every day

To get the latest insight on the codebase, make sure to keep it tuned to @AlexFinnX

Found this post helpful?

Simple ask: I've spent hundreds of hours the last several months looking at the algo code

If you found any value in it, please give the post linked here a like and RT:

https://x.com/AlexFinnX/status/1758910031003586731?s=20

Seems to be a lot of opinions on this post

Let’s talk about it:

https://twitter.com/alexfinnx/status/1758951022251180497

I also want to be clear about one thing:

This is NOT Elon's fault. Please do not tag Elon and blame him.

This codebase was inherited from the last engineering team. It's the most unorganized, messy code I've ever seen. WAY over-engineered

Blame belongs to last ownership