This is the first in a series of posts exploring what “open sourcing Twitter’s algorithm” would look like from a more practical perspective.

Intro

As a experienced software engineer with a passion for open source, Elon Musk’s recent appeal to open source the Twitter algorithm inspired me to start researching this space. My goal was to try and answer one main question:

<aside> 💡 What would open sourcing the Twitter algorithm actually look like?

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In order to answer this question, there are some related questions we’ll need to answer first:

• Why would we want to open source the Twitter algorithm?
• What do we mean when talking about the “Twitter algorithm”?
• What does Twitter’s core data model look like?
• What does Twitter’s network graph look like?
• How does Twitter’s algorithmic feed work?
• What are the main engineering challenges that we should keep in mind?

Motivation

What’s behind Elon’s bid to take over Twitter? In his own words:

“Civilizational risk is decreased the more we can increase the trust in Twitter as a public platform.”

Elon’s motivation is clear and consistent with his modus operandi. It’s the same reason he’s working so hard to build a sustainable colony on Mars, why he’s devoted resources to understanding the potential dangers of AI super-intelligence, and why he’s so insistent on combatting climate change.

His guiding motivation is to improve humanity’s chances at a positive future.