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twitter/the-algorithm

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Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#61

Post by andrewmcwatters »

bastardoperator wrote: post #48
Irishsteve wrote: post #7

Many people have commented that it is empty. However what they do not realize is that there has never actually been an algorithm and that is why it is empty.

This is most likely the correct answer. I doubt there is a single piece of code or algorithm that controls all of twitter. From my limited perspective it's just a catch phrase to simplify what is likely tens of thousands of lines of code.

Well, that's an algorithm. If you have to draw a diagram showing how edge cache nodes affect a user's results based on whether or not they signed in from New York or Phoenix, or if the downtime of a cluster affects the relevance rankings of tweets for a photography enthusiast, then guess what...

That's an algorithm.

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#62

Post by mrkramer »

Imagine having something like this for Google's and YouTube's algorithms; $100bn+ SEO industry would go bankrupt or at least they would pivot to some sort of advising but there wouldn't be the mayhem that we have today.

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#63

Post by threeseed »

Anyone who actually uses Twitter already knows the algorithm:

* Chronological - reverse sort by date

* Home - for all of the followed topics, recommended topics, retweets and tweets in the past day determine the estimated level of engagement, include the highest and reverse sort by date. This is likely to be a fairly basic ML model.

It will be uncontroversial, technically unsophisticated and of no practical use to anyone - users, developers or researchers.

This is not going to be PageRank where some genuine new insight was discovered.

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#64

Post by andrewmcwatters »

sverhagen wrote: post #52
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there is a total set of data, and a subset of it is produced for users, there is an algorithm. `SELECT TOP` is an algorithm. A ML model with a trillion parameters is an algorithm. There is no "no algorithm."

You're not wrong. But would it be useful to define better what we mean with algorithm then? Like: we mean "non-obvious algorithm"?

You and I might be technical enough people to suss out little details, but I suspect the average person probably also wants to know whether or not something like Twitter testing a feature flag (Yes, really!) is affecting their timeline.

If it affects results in the slightest, I think that's what people are asking about.

Yeah, if the new senior dev screwed up a deployment and now football fans in Dallas are suddenly getting fewer posts about the most recent athlete scandal all because a regional deployment was the only thing doing relevance record keeping, then yes, that's a part of "the algorithm."

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#65

Post by dragonwriter »

krapp wrote: post #31
influx wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's not an algorithm to order timelines?

There probably is not "an algorithm" on a site as large and complex as Twitter, no. There are probably dozens if not hundreds of algorithms spread throughout the codebase which affect the timeline for individual users, possibly even code entirely self-generated by ML systems.

The aggregate of a set of systems that maps inputs and state to outputs and state updates is...

still a system that maps inputs and state to outputs and outputs and state updates.

A collection of algorithms is just a bigger algorithm.

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#66

Post by standyro »

I tried to make a pull request already, haha.

error forking repo: HTTP 403: The repository exists, but it contains no Git content. Empty repositories cannot be forked. (https://api.github.com/repos/twitter/the-algorithm/forks)

My thoughts:

- Explicit rules for temporary and permanent bans

- Edit button

- More fun and thoughtful conversations like HN

- Less thought bubble Brooklyn based reporters, less VC and side grind hustle snake oil, maybe more comedians and memes?

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#67

Post by mrintellectual »

hunterb123 wrote: post #30
mrintellectual wrote: post #15

This seems to be a practical joke by a Twitter engineer as opposed to an actual release.

Or a commit is being prepared? It's only 20 minutes old.

It just seems unlikely that the algorithm would be open-sourced right after a deal for Twitter is agreed upon (but before it actually goes through). I've never seen a buyout of this scale done by an individual, but I imagine the SEC and several other parties will need to be involved.

At the minimum, I would make a private Github repo first, add all relevant commits, and then make it public once there's actually content.

Re: twitter/the-algorithm

#69

Post by extheat »

nighthawk454 wrote: post #14

Seems weird to start as a non-private repo until there's some content. Also bit of an unusual name. Can't tell if this is internal trolling or the future

They probably have their own internal Git hosting service. Pushing to the public Github repo could be done at a later point, but the Git repo hasn't actually been created yet here, just the project on Github.
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