Elon Musk's x may have modified its algorithm to boost his account, along with those of other conservative-leaning users, starting around the time he announced his support for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. That is according to a new study published by the Queensland University of technology (QUT), which found that Musk's posts in particular suddenly became much more popular.
The study's authors, QUT associate professor of digital media Timothy Graham and Monash University communications and media studies professor Mark Andrejevic, analyzed for the first time Musk's engagement before and after his endorsement to Trump in July. They report that as of July 13, Musks' posts received 138 percent more views and 238 percent more retweets than before that date.
Musk's numbers “outperformed overall engagement trends seen across the platform,” they concluded. (This article is not the first time it has been suggested that x adjusted its algorithm to specifically boost Musk's account.) The researchers also found that other Republican-leaning accounts they examined experienced similar boosts beginning in July, although to a lesser degree.
The study results are similar to other findings recently reported by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/x–twitter-political-content-election-2024-28f2dadd”>The Wall Street Journal and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/29/elon-musk-x-republican-democrat-twitter-election/”>Washington Post of possible right-wing bias in x's algorithms. However, researchers say they were limited by the “relatively small amount of data” that could be collected since the platform cut off access to its academic API. They add that, although they see no indication that data is missing, “there is no guarantee that 100% of the publications have been collected.”
