I'm glad the article mentioned Twitter's engagement algorithm — I don't think enough attention is being paid to it.

With a different algorithm Twitter could be a remarkably different experience. The current one has a strong bias toward engagement & velocity. It amplifies anger, outrage, and bad faith arguments over less "engaging" content.

If Twitter let off the engagement pedal a bit and re-factored the algorithm, our political climate might be less hostile overnight.

These companies have long claimed their algorithms are politically unbiased. That's not true. While I don't believe they lean left or right, they certainly have a strong bias towards extremism. Extremism keeps you engaged, which maximizes the time you spend in their apps.

Imagine if Twitter instead decided to bias their algorithm towards positivity