Koo, a Twitter competitor on Wednesday, said it has become the first significant social media platform to publish the core algorithms and philosophy, thereby empowering users to understand why they see the content.
According to a statement, these algorithms were made public on Koo''s website.
Algorithms are a set of mathematical guidelines that help to personalize and improve experience for users based on their own behaviors and preferences. The primary objective of these algorithms is to increase relevancy for a user.
Koo''s latest move comes at a time when transparency and free speech concerns have dominated the public narrative about social media platforms such as Twitter.
Elon Musk, the world''s richest man, offered to purchase Twitter for $43 billion (roughly Rs. 3,28,534 crore) and has since expressed concern for the need for the social media company to increase transparency on how and why it promotes content. Musk also said Twitter should open-source its algorithms.
Koo, a homegrown micro-blogging company, said on Wednesday that it has evolved into the first significant social media company to make its algorithms public, stating that the move "establishes Koo as a transparent and safe platform." "This move demonstrates Koo''s commitment to platform transparency and neutrality, while keeping user interests at the core. It allows users to understand why they are seeing the content that they do."
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While Koo''s focus is on developing well-defined, transparent algorithms. It now wants to educate and inform users about how it fulfills these objectives, according to the report.
"Koo discusses the four key algorithms used: Feed, Trending #, People recommendations, and Notifications. These four algorithms determine the type of content users see and consume," it said.
Aprameya Radhakrishna, the founder and CEO of Koo, said that the platform''s algorithms are flexible without any interference or bias.
"To speak openly about our algorithms is part of our commitment to letting users know that there are no hidden agendas at Koo," Radhakrishna said.
Koo will continue to keep users informed about its operation, and how it is developing a safe, impartial, and reliable social media platform for the future, according to the author.
According to Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of Koo, "by making our algorithms public we are taking a step towards letting users understand how we drive relevance." "Algorithms are constantly evolving, and are constantly experimented with on a very frequent basis, and while we begin with these, in the near future, we will also be providing users with the option to see a timeline feed if they so wish. This gives them the best of both worlds," Bidawatka says