David Z. Morris says, “Last week saw a major shift in the new media landscape, as Twitter switched all of its users to a so-called “algorithmic feed.” That means users will be more likely to see tweets that match their own preferences, rather than just the most recent ones. At the same time, Instagram was reported to be testing similar changes.

From users’ perspectives, the shift to algorithms should (at least in theory) make feeds more interesting and engaging, as Facebook’s newsfeed filtering has. But it’s potentially disruptive for the many businesses who use Twitter and Instagram to try and reach customers. As Josh Constine reminds us over at TechCrunch, Facebook’s algorithm took away what had been a free, seemingly direct line to customers, forcing businesses to pay more for social reach. As Constine puts it, “the free ride is over” on Twitter now, too.

Well, maybe.

It’s actually never been true that social followers saw all posted content, in Constine’s words, “as long as they open their apps.” On both Twitter and Instagram, the strictly chronological timeline has made visibility fairly random, because users don’t see any content posted very long before or after they check their feed”.

What Does Twitter’s Algorithmic Feed Mean for Social Marketing?
Entrepreneur

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