AI is changing how content is created for social media, and it could soon change how feeds are structured as well.
Elon Musk announced that X is developing a promptable algorithm feature that would allow users to customize their content feeds through natural language commands. The announcement came in response to a post by David Scott Patterson suggesting that “The X algorithm should be promptable” with an example prompt: “No politics today – just the best AI innovations.”
Musk’s brief reply—”We’re working on it”—signals a significant shift in how social media platforms approach content curation, moving from purely algorithmic control to user-directed customization.
A New Level of User Control
The concept of a promptable feed would represent a departure from traditional social media algorithms that operate as black boxes, determining what users see based on engagement metrics and predicted preferences. Instead, users would be able to actively shape their experience by telling the algorithm what they want to see at any given moment.
This approach mirrors a recent innovation from Spotify, which recently gave users control of the algorithm for the first time with AI-prompted playlists. The music streaming service allows subscribers to create personalized playlists by describing what they want to hear in natural language, such as “upbeat folk music for a road trip” or “relaxing jazz for studying.”
Recent Algorithm Overhaul
The promptable feed feature would build on X’s recent algorithmic infrastructure upgrades. On January 11, X’s head of product Nikita Bier revealed that the platform’s algorithm had been completely rebuilt from scratch by the xAI team and now runs on over 20,000 GPUs at the Colossus data center.
Bier described the overhaul as “essentially changing the engine on a jet midflight,” noting that the rebuild resulted in a 20% increase in time spent on the platform and an even larger boost in follows. However, he emphasized that there is “still so much more to improve.”
While Bier’s post highlighted backend improvements to the existing recommendation system, Musk’s proposed promptable feed would represent a different paradigm entirely—one where users take the controls rather than simply experiencing the results of algorithmic optimization.
Implications for Social Media
If implemented, a promptable algorithm could address long-standing user frustrations with social media feeds that feel out of their control. Users could theoretically filter out certain topics during stressful periods, focus on specific interests when researching, or create customized browsing experiences that adapt to their changing needs throughout the day.
The feature could also provide X with a competitive advantage as platforms increasingly compete on user experience and customization. By combining the sophisticated AI infrastructure of xAI with user-directed prompting, X would be offering something unique in the social media landscape.
However, questions remain about implementation details, including how granular the controls will be, whether prompts will be temporary or savable, and how the system will balance user requests with other platform objectives like content moderation and advertiser interests.
As with many of Musk’s announcements, no timeline was provided for when users might see this feature rolled out. But the acknowledgment that the team is “working on it” suggests that promptable feeds could be part of X’s evolution in 2025.