X will boost posts from mutual followers to soften feed tone
X is boosting mutual-followers posts and DMing users about Community Notes corrections, a shift that looks as much about feed feel and retention as toxicity.
X is amplifying posts from users’ mutual followers to make the feed feel more communal, the latest tweak to a recommendation system Elon Musk has been rebuilding since he bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X.
The change lands after a long sequence of algorithm disclosures. X open-sourced its recommendation code on GitHub on March 31, 2023, and Musk said on January 10, 2026, that the company would open the new algorithm, including organic and advertising recommendation code, in seven days and repeat the release every four weeks with developer notes. X later released a Grok-powered version of the algorithm in January 2026, underscoring how closely the platform’s ranking system is now tied to xAI.
The company has also been moving away from the idea that the Following feed should simply mirror chronology. X has used Grok-based predictions of engagement and relevance to rank posts there, a choice that puts more weight on what the system expects users to click, linger on, or respond to. The mutual-followers push appears to extend that logic in a different direction, favoring familiar social ties over the broader, often combative reach that has defined much of the platform since Musk’s takeover.
That matters because X’s political and social tone has been one of the most criticized parts of the service under Musk, especially after sweeping changes to moderation, verification, and ranking. A feed that surfaces more posts from mutual connections may reduce the sense of algorithmic chaos, but the meaningful test is whether X can show measurable changes in reach, engagement, harassment rates, and ideological exposure, not just a softer look and feel.
X has paired the new feed direction with another trust feature. On July 8, 2026, it said Community Notes would begin sending direct messages to users when a post they liked, replied to, or reposted later received a correction. Together, the changes point to a broader effort to make X feel more socially connected and more trustworthy, even as the company keeps fine-tuning the mechanics that decide what rises and what disappears.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
