What works on X right now

Cheat sheet, updated . Based only on changes we can see in the code.

  1. Earn likes. Likes now carry about 32% more weight than at the start of October (0.5 → 0.66). high source, 2026-10-13, source, 2026-10-14
  2. Make posts worth reading. Time spent on a post is weighted 50% more (0.004 → 0.006). high source, 2026-10-13
  3. Don't rely on video taps. A video tap is worth 71% less (0.07 → 0.02). What matters is people keeping watching. high source, 2026-10-13
  4. Stay in your lane. A 'not interested' tap from a stranger costs about 10% more than before. high source, 2026-10-14
  5. Nail the first hour. The boost for brand-new posts was cut by 25%, so early engagement from your followers matters more. high source, 2026-10-07
  6. Momentum compounds. A 'popular posts' source now pushes already-popular posts from top authors. high source, 2026-10-07
  7. Vary your videos. The video carousel now removes repeat clips from the same creator and lookalike clips. high source, 2026-10-17
  8. Label borderline media. Racy content is filtered out for users in their first 7 days. medium source, 2026-10-22, source, 2026-10-28
  9. Smaller accounts may get a fairer shot. Fair share ranking is now on. Our reading is that it spreads the feed more evenly. medium source, 2026-10-22
  10. Keep replies genuine. The reply-spam thresholds shifted three times this month. medium source, 2026-10-03, source, 2026-10-08