X has published its latest overview of how it ranks content, in order to maximize user engagement, with a full listing of the codebase for its “For You” timeline, which is the primary feed for X users.
Though you can default to the “Following” feed instead, and I’d hazard a bet that many X users do precisely that. But the code for the For You feed reveals what X thinks are the key factors for driving engagement, and keeping users interested in the app.
So what are those factors?
Well, overall, the key factors that drive X post engagement are the same as they have been for some time, but it is worth noting the specifics for your strategy.
According to X’s documentation on the core signals that it uses to select posts to show in individual user timelines, the current factors, and their relative weighting (out of 100), are:
- The probability that the user replies to the Tweet and that reply is then engaged with by the Tweet author (+75)
- The probability that the user replies to the Tweet (+13.5)
- The probability that the user opens the Tweet author profile and Likes or replies to a Tweet (+12.0)
- The probability that the user will click into the conversation of this Tweet and reply or Like Tweet (+11)
- The probability that the user will click into the conversation of this Tweet and stay there for at least 2 minutes (+10)
- The likelihood that the user will Retweet the Tweet (+1.0)
- The likelihood that the user will favorite the Tweet (+0.5)
- The probability (for a video Tweet) that the user will watch at least half of the video (+0.005)
So, as you can see, the main focus, on an individual user relevant level, is engagement, and the likelihood that your posts will spark conversation, especially with the post author. That’s how X prioritizes posts from people who you regularly engage with, but it also serves as a guide as to how to ensure you get your posts into the feeds of more users.
Which is by sparking engagement, ideally in the form of replies. Which is hard, because the vast majority of X users never post anything at all, but again, as a note on what X is looking to incentivize, engagement is key.
In terms of more general engagement factors, and what X wants to focus on, user Alex Finn has posted a good breakdown of the key elements.
First, on what X wants to see, these elements get an algorithmic boost:
- Video posts get a big boost, especially if users watch for more than 10 seconds
- Post dwell time is another consideration
- Quotes and bookmarks are positive engagement signals that will boost your reach
- Getting verified will also increase your post reach
- Creators who post “viral” updates will get more reach on subsequent posts
So nothing new there, with videos being a big focus, and verified users getting an advantage.
These factors, however, will see you hit with penalties:
- Posting “offensive” text (80% reach reduction)
- Having an offensive username
- Posting in all caps
- Including links in your posts
- The probability that a user will react negatively (tapping "show less often" on the post or author, or block/mute)
- The probability that the user will click “Report”
These are pretty much the same as they were under Twitter, with some slight changes, including a steeper penalty for link posts.
X doesn’t, however, spell out what “offensive” means in this context, so we don’t know for sure what it considers harmful or penalization worthy in this respect.
Also, penalties can be cumulative, as they relate to your account’s reputation score, which means that any penalization can restrict your reach ongoing, and not just on a per-post basis.
X has various labels on this front which can be applied to accounts and restrict reach, including:
- Low-quality posts
- Spam
- Toxicity
- Untrusted URL
- NSFW
- Gore
- Repeatedly mentioning another @handle
Do any of these things, and your reach will be penalized, or “shadowbanned” for a period.
So what does that mean for your X strategy?
Well, video posts that prompt people to reply will get you more reach, and engaging with individual commenters will also help to ensure that more of your updates get shown in their feeds. That’s the top-level performance indicator that X is looking to boost, while any engagement and dwell time will help improve your post performance.
Don’t post in all caps, and don’t post offensive content, and you’ll also avoid penalties, while including links is another thing to avoid.
Which is not great for those of us who want to refer users back to our owned properties, but Elon Musk has made it clear that he doesn’t want to help drive traffic to other sites, preferring to keep users on X for as long as possible instead.
Which makes sense, but it’s probably not the best way to maximize publisher engagement, which can be a big driver of activity.
But that’s the call that Elon’s made, while he’s also noted that, soon, all of this code will likely be replaced by Grok AI assessments and judgements either way.
So it may not be this way for long, but right now, these are the factors that drive post performance on X.
