X Puts Mutuals Back Into Reply Feed — Bier Admits That Signal Was Never in the Algo
TL;DR
X tweaks algorithm to boost mutual-follow replies in visibility; Nikita Bier admits mutual data was missing from ranking.
X has tweaked its recommendation algorithm to boost the visibility of replies from users you follow back. Head of product Nikita Bier disclosed the change directly on X: mutual-follow relationships weren't factored into the reply-section ranking model at all, causing users to see friends less often in their own post's replies.
Bier's exact words: "The reply section previously felt more like a battleground with people you don't recognize." The new algorithm adds an extra scoring multiplier when both parties follow each other, prioritizing mutuals in reply feeds. This is the first time in three years X has publicly acknowledged the mutual-follow signal was entirely ignored.
The change looks like just "putting friends back," but it's actually a strategic retreat from rage-fuel traffic. For the past two years, Musk's team treated reply sections as the algorithmic engine's core battleground — more controversy, longer dwell, more ad impressions. But this path has pushed heavy users to a breaking point: Threads and Bluesky have poached significant former Twitter users on "quiet" as their pitch, and X's internal signals clearly caught the drift.
Bier added: the change should help groups form more naturally around shared interests, rather than every reply opening being a fresh street fight with five strangers.
If it works, the reply section feels like 2018 social again and Threads/Bluesky slow their poaching. If it doesn't, it's an admission that users never wanted "more strangers" and Musk's three-year algorithm direction was fundamentally wrong.
via TechCrunch / Nikita Bier on X
Bier's exact words: "The reply section previously felt more like a battleground with people you don't recognize." The new algorithm adds an extra scoring multiplier when both parties follow each other, prioritizing mutuals in reply feeds. This is the first time in three years X has publicly acknowledged the mutual-follow signal was entirely ignored.
The change looks like just "putting friends back," but it's actually a strategic retreat from rage-fuel traffic. For the past two years, Musk's team treated reply sections as the algorithmic engine's core battleground — more controversy, longer dwell, more ad impressions. But this path has pushed heavy users to a breaking point: Threads and Bluesky have poached significant former Twitter users on "quiet" as their pitch, and X's internal signals clearly caught the drift.
Bier added: the change should help groups form more naturally around shared interests, rather than every reply opening being a fresh street fight with five strangers.
If it works, the reply section feels like 2018 social again and Threads/Bluesky slow their poaching. If it doesn't, it's an admission that users never wanted "more strangers" and Musk's three-year algorithm direction was fundamentally wrong.
via TechCrunch / Nikita Bier on X
