Users on Twitter are calling it the end of the social media platform. No, the Doomsday Clock hasn’t finally ticked to midnight and Barack Obama didn’t suddenly reveal that every bad rumor about him is true. Instead it’s worse. Twitter is changing it’s timeline.
A report from Buzzfeed News notes that the social media giant will be adopting an algorithmic timeline as early as next week, topping the possible end of Twitter’s 140 character limit as the worst thing to ever happen to the Internet — at least according to people who use Twitter:
As BuzzFeed News reported in June, an algorithmic timeline represents a way for Twitter to elevate popular content, and could solve some of Twitter’s signal-to-noise problems. It is also widely assumed to be anathema to the platform’s typically vocal power users.
Yet, Jack Dorsey, who took the reins of Twitter as permanent CEO in October, has expressed a willingness to rethink the platform’s core tenets. “We continue to show a questioning of our fundamentals in order to make the product easier and more accessible to more people,” he said in July. In November, the company killed off the traditional term favorites and replaced it with likes. An algorithmic feed would be, to date, the boldest change so far under Dorsey.
Some, like Josh Sternberg at NBC News, are reporting that the changes will be opt in only, but many online already have Twitter picking out a tombstone in the coming months.
Sources at Twitter tell me algorithms are strictly opt in.
— Josh Sternberg (@joshsternberg) February 6, 2016
If you head over to Twitter, you might see the hashtag #RIPTwitter. It’s full of reactions to the proposed changes — or overreactions if that’s more your view on the situation. Some seem to be having a lot of fun with it at least, but others are acting like it is the end of an era.
https://twitter.com/biebertuesdays/status/695977515198775296
https://twitter.com/emilysteers/status/695805381029724160
https://twitter.com/MrJonathanKing/status/695806061165543424
Not to catastrophize, but the algorithmic timeline will kill Twitter as we know it. It's been a lot of fun, folks.
— Josh Helfferich (@JoshHelfferich) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/NICKWALSH/status/695803230370959360
Enjoy twitter as much as you can.
After a week you will be back on facebook again.#RIPTwitter— M Hashir Pervaiz (@hashir_pervaiz) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/debostic/status/695976939312521216
The only sure thing in the entire thing is that people are getting plenty of use for their best reaction gifs and images:
Twitter CEO:
"Let`s see the impact on the community with this new tweet algorithm."#RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/dQoqS0NWVw— Mental (@BonjwaMental) February 6, 2016
Folks at @twitter have been developing an algorithm to predict and stop your tweets before they even happen.#MinoritweetReport#RIPTwitter
— Peter Simeti | KING CRYPTID #5-9 Funding Now! (@petersimeti) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/PotterReacts/status/695974905393913857
https://twitter.com/benking_bk/status/695974585825538051
Twitter thinking switching to a Facebook-like algorithm is a good idea. #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/b09EWfS0wb
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/__vna/status/695974223957733376
https://twitter.com/GameThroneReact/status/695973974153498624
This is how close you are to killing yourself… I'll bury you next to Facebook when you do #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/k4Wndx87aJ
— Kalvin Wilson (@RabbitKalvin) February 6, 2016
Waking up to #RIPTwitter tweets pic.twitter.com/8P9i1LLmYs
— Mark S. Luckie (@marksluckie) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/grandewhispers/status/695973013301362690
Can a pro Freedom of Speech Billionaire please do a hostile takeover? @Twitter is cheap right now. #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/kh3zHxVDHJ
— OppressedFart (@OppressedFart) February 6, 2016
The illuminati destroys all our toys & all our tools. #RIPTwitter
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/MariamHosny1997/status/695980110818705408
When I saw the trend that twitter's gonna change into facebook.. #RIPTwitter via @bangingstylesxx #EPIC pic.twitter.com/XPEOGY8xiK
— Mohd. Imran (乇мմ™) (@TheSoulfulEMU) February 6, 2016
When you hear about the new twitter update #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/OUw404fMPq
— gemgar smoking (@pigdotavi) February 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/jakefogelnest/status/695880377739522048
And according to Alex B., it would seem that the people behind Twitter are new to how this whole thing works:
https://twitter.com/SIGKILL/status/695860128222842880
(Via Buzzfeed News / The Verge)