---
title: "Musk forced algorithm change to help boost his tweets, platformer says"
description: "Elon Musk had Twitter engineers working late on Sunday to alter his social network’s algorithm and prioritise his tweets, resulting in a glut of them in users’ feeds on Monday, according to a report by Platformer."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-15-musk-forced-algorithm-change-to-help-boost-his-tweets-platformer-says/"
published: "2023-02-15T06:02:33"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 240
---

# Musk forced algorithm change to help boost his tweets, platformer says

> Elon Musk had Twitter engineers working late on Sunday to alter his social network’s algorithm and prioritise his tweets, resulting in a glut of them in users’ feeds on Monday, according to a report by Platformer.

By Bloomberg · Published 15 February 2023, 08:02 SAST

## Key points
- Twitter users were left confused after reports emerged that billionaire CEO Elon Musk was unhappy with the views of his Super Bowl tweet and had asked Twitter to exclude it from filters and artificially boost its reach by 1,000. This sparked complaints from users who saw an abundance of Musk's tweets in their timelines the following day. His message of support for the Philadelphia Eagles received less engagement than US President Joe Biden's similar sentiment. Musk has since tweeted a meme suggesting his tweets will be force-fed to Twitter users and hinted at adjustments being made to the algorithm.
- Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk was reportedly unhappy with the number of views of his Super Bowl tweet.
- Twitter allegedly excluded Musk’s tweets from filters and artificially boosted them by a factor of 1,000.
- Users across Twitter complained about seeing an abundance of the owner’s missives on the day following the Super Bowl.
- Elon Musk tweeted liberally after the publication of the report, suggesting his tweets were going to be force-fed to Twitter users.

## Content

The billionaire Twitter owner was said to be unhappy with the number of views of his Super Bowl tweet. As a result of his request, Twitter excluded Musk’s tweets from filters designed to improve the quality of users’ timelines, Platformer said, and artificially boosted them by a factor of 1,000. Users across Twitter complained about seeing an abundance of the owner’s missives on the day following the Super Bowl.

Please stay tuned while we make adjustments to the uh .… “algorithm”

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [February 14, 2023](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1625407245218648065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Musk’s message of support for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday got significantly lower engagement than US President Joe Biden expressing a similar sentiment. The company’s chief has been increasingly focused on – and frustrated by – his personal engagement numbers, which have been dropping in recent weeks, the report said. Musk has nearly 129 million followers, whereas Biden’s account has 37 million.

Before taking the company private in a $44-billion deal in October, the Tesla chief executive officer spoke of his desire to make it an even playing field and eliminate bias in the system.

Twitter didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Musk tweeted liberally about Twitter and its functionality after the publication of the report, but didn’t address its content.

Earlier, he tweeted a meme [suggesting](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1625368108461613057) his tweets were going to be force-fed to Twitter users. He also said the company was making adjustments to the algorithm. **BM/DM**