After testing it out over the last few months, X has now rolled out its new reply sorting options for post reply stream, which will provide another way to focus your time and engagement in the app
As you can see in this example, in the latest version of the app, X users now have three ways to sort the order in which replies are displayed beneath any post.
The options available are:
- Trending
- Most Recent
- Most Liked
It’s not entirely clear how “Trending” is ranked in this context (presumably the replies which have sparked the most overall engagement of their own), but the other two options are pretty straightforward, providing you with more ways to customize your X experience, and access the most engaging discussions related to any post.
And it makes sense for X to put more emphasis on this element.
Replies have become a bigger focus for X of late, because of its Creator Ad Revenue Share program, which sees verified X creators who are approved for the initiative get paid a percentage of the ad income for promotions displayed within the replies to their posts.
As such, driving replies is now a much more relevant posting strategy in the app, so adding reply sorting could be a good way to help creators get a better understanding of what’s sparking response, and how they can use that in their own approach.
It could also help to filter out spam and scam bots, who try to hook into the conversation around trending posts. Though at the same time, it might also see certain perspectives minimized in the app, by ranking them lower in the “Trending” and “Most Liked” displays.
To be clear, X has algorithmically ranked post replies for several years now, so that the most engaging comments are displayed first, in order to incentivize more interaction. These new options provide more personalization control, so it’s actually an improvement in terms of exposure.
As such, if anything this will provide more opportunity, but it does mean that less Liked posts will still remain further down the display for most users.
Some users have also noted that these sorting options may not align with another coming X update, in which post like and reply counts will be removed from the main feed view. But those details will still be visible within the individual post view, which is the only area where you’ll actually be able to access the reply sorting options. As such, they’re not really related or linked.
The only other note of interest is that it’s taken X quite a while to activate this update, by its own standards.
X initially began testing this option back in February, when it already had this exact UI established, so it’s taken another six months for X to reach launch stage.
That, of course, makes sense. X now has 80% fewer staff than it used to, so any update is likely to take a little longer in development. But X has also been rolling out fairly rapid updates since Elon Musk purchased the app, and by comparison, this one seems relatively stretched out.
Could that mean that X is taking a little more time with its processes, in order to minimize errors? Could its reduction in staff now be more keenly felt on new initiatives?
Either way, it seems like a good update, which will provide more control options for X users.
