Twitter sneakily enables new algorithmic feed -- here's how to disable it

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Twitter is forever tinkering with timelines, and it's not all that long ago that the #RIPTwitter hashtag was trending after it was suggested that a new algorithm-powered timeline was to be introduced. Twitter users lashed out and Jack Dorsey stepped into the fray to try to allay fears.

A month ago Dorsey said that "we never planned to reorder timelines next week". He wasn’t wrong. It's happened now instead. Gone is the sensible, logical, chronological timeline, replaced instead with an algorithmic feed that's home to tweets Twitter thinks you want to see first. It's not only been launched with little fanfare, but now it's enabled by default.

This is something that has upset many users; there aren’t many people who are happy to have changes forced upon them, after all. The new algorithms mean that, to quote Twitter, "Tweets you are likely to care about most will show up first in your timeline". It may be a feature you decide you like, but Twitter's decision to forge ahead and enable it for everyone by default has got many backs up.

Twitter describes the change in its updated support pages:

Tweets you are likely to care about most will show up first in your timeline. We choose them based on accounts you interact with most, Tweets you engage with, and much more.

If you find yourself irked by the latest rearrangement of your timeline, just head to Settings and disable the option labeled Show me the best Tweets first. Click Save Settings, and things should be back to the way they used to be.

Photo credit: Quka / Shutterstock

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