The X Algorithm
How X decides who sees your post, read straight from the ranking code X published, and how to use it to grow on Crypto Twitter without getting muted, reported or throttled.
- Links in the main post → move them to the first reply.
- A dead first 30–60 minutes → strong hook, post when your audience is active, reply instantly.
- Burst posting → space posts 45+ minutes apart (the author diversity penalty).
- Bait → engagement-bait gets "not interested" (−52 in the code).
01 · The machineHow your post gets into someone's feed
For every person who opens the For You tab, X gathers a pile of possible posts, throws some out, predicts what that person would do with each one, and turns those predictions into a score.
Recent posts from people they follow, plus posts from people they don't: found by "similar taste" (AI embeddings), topic clusters and what's popular right now.
Drops posts older than 48 hours, ones they already saw, muted words, blocked or muted accounts, and duplicates.
A Grok-based model guesses the odds they'll like, reply, repost, quote, share, linger, follow you, or mute, block, report or say "not interested".
Each guess is multiplied by a weight (next section) and added up. Bad reactions have big negative weights.
Several posts from one author in a row get discounted. Out-of-network posts get a discount. Small accounts get a new-author boost.
02 · The weightsWhat each reaction is worth
These are the default weights in X's published ranker. Hover or tap a bar for what it means. The score multiplies each weight by the probability of the action, so this shows what X cares about, not "one reply = N likes".
Good reactions
Raise your score
Bad reactions
Lower your score (shown as size)
03 · The playbookHow to grow on X
Every tip below ties back to a weight or rule above.
✓Do
Alpha, tools, clear charts, "save this" explainers. Copy-link shares (×20) and DM shares (×5) are the strongest signals in the code.
share_via_copy_link ×20End posts with a real question or a take people want to push back on. Then reply to your replies, especially from mutuals.
reply ×5 · mutual reply +15Lead with a strong hook, post when your audience is active, and reply to every reply right away. Early replies decide whether X keeps testing the post (the cold-start window runs 2 hours, and posts drop out after 48).
reply ×5 · cold start ≤ 2h · age filter 48hA strong first line, then substance: threads, charts that take a second to read, and video of at least 10 seconds. Time spent reading counts.
dwell · click dwell timeA quote with your own view is weighted 5× a plain repost and puts your name on it.
quote ×5 · repost ×1Several posts from you in a row get discounted (the author diversity penalty). Three to six good posts spread through the day beat ten in an hour.
author diversity decayStay on a few topics so the "similar taste" matching learns who to show you to. Clear bio, pinned post, consistent name and picture turn visitors into followers.
follow_author ×4 · embeddings10 to 15 thoughtful replies a day still get you discovered. Since January 2026 reply views no longer count toward creator payouts, so do it to be found, not to farm.
discovery, not payouts✕Don't
X's rules ban coordinating to exchange likes, replies, reposts, follows or views. Enforcement is mostly automated.
X Authenticity policyIt's against X's rules, bot followers never engage, and a big audience that ignores you drags your predicted odds down.
platform manipulation"Like if you agree", "gm" spam, tagging 20 accounts. People hit "not interested", which is weighted −52.
not_interested −52.3"Check out my coin 🚀" replies get you muted (−58.8), blocked (−31.2) and reported (−234) by strangers.
mute · block · reportDozens of likes, follows or replies in a few minutes, or mass follow and unfollow, look like a bot to spam detection.
spam detectionCopy-pasted text, delete-and-repost loops and duplicate replies are classic spam signals. Say it fresh each time.
duplicates filteredThe ranker has no hashtag bonus. One relevant tag is fine; a wall of them reads as spam.
no hashtag weightPut the link in your first reply instead (Grok's #1 reach killer). X says there's no link penalty, but a link sends readers off X before they reply or linger, and an opened link is only worth +0.2.
open_link ×0.2 · link in first reply04 · Crypto TwitterWhat works in crypto, and what gets you torched
CT is fast, skeptical, and full of scammers, so trust is the whole game. The accounts that last show receipts and say what they hold.
✓Do
Screenshot the chart with your entry and time in the post, and drop the transaction or wallet link in the first reply. On-chain proof beats "trust me" every time.
"I hold $X" on every call. If you're paid, say "ad" or "paid partnership" in the post itself, not in a reply.
When news breaks, the first clear, specific explanation wins. A quick "here's what this means for holders" beats a late recap.
How a launch works, what the tokenomics mean, how to spot a rug, how to stay safe. Explainers get saved and shared.
Burns, buybacks, holder counts, what shipped this week. Regular honest updates with numbers build the trust that turns into holders.
Flag fake accounts, drainer links and impersonators. It protects your community and earns trust fast.
Live voice rooms turn followers into people who know you. Tweet the highlights afterwards.
✕Don't
"Guaranteed 100x", "can't lose", "send SOL get double back". X's financial-scam rules ban it, and so do regulators.
Undisclosed paid promotion is how influencers get exposed and fined. Investigator ZachXBT once named 160+ CT accounts for it, and the SEC fined Kim Kardashian $1.26M over an undisclosed token promo.
It's the fastest way to collect mutes, blocks and reports, the three heaviest negative weights.
Deleting calls that went wrong, or shilling what you're selling, gets screenshotted and kills your account for good. Own your misses.
Fake "official" accounts, copied branding or stolen threads get reported and suspended.
That's exactly what drainers do. Even honest ones get reported, and your followers learn not to trust your links.
Organised groups that all like and reply on cue are "coordinated engagement" under X's rules. Get people to show up because the post is good.
05 · Daily routineA day on X that compounds
Tick things off as you go. It saves on this device.
Morning
Peak hour
Afternoon
Evening / weekly
06 · MythsWhat people get wrong
Those numbers come from X's old 2023 code. In the 2026 ranker a reply is weighted 5 and a like 0.66, plus +15 when mutuals reply, and weights multiply probabilities, not counts.
X's owner said in July 2026 that links haven't been penalized for over a year, and the code has no explicit penalty. But links pull people off X before they reply or linger, which is why even Grok says to put them in the first reply. Safe play: hook in the post, link in the first reply.
The published ranker has no verified or Premium multiplier. Buffer's 2025 study did find Premium accounts get far more impressions, but that's partly who buys Premium. Premium does matter for payouts, which count verified viewers.
There's no hashtag weight in the ranker. Discovery comes from "similar taste" matching on what you post and who engages.
What matters is the first 30–60 minutes with your audience. Post when they're online, then reply instantly.
Since January 2026, creator payouts count only verified views on Home timelines; reply views earn nothing.
07 · SourcesWhere this comes from
- X's published ranker (Grok-based, January 2026): github.com/xai-org/x-algorithm. Weights from home-mixer/params/param.rs (published defaults; live values can differ).
- X Rules, Authenticity: help.x.com/rules-and-policies/authenticity ("coordinating to exchange engagement" is not allowed).
- X Rules, Platform manipulation and spam: help.x.com/rules-and-policies/platform-manipulation.
- X Rules, Financial scams: help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/financial-scam.
- Link penalty: Musk's July 2026 reply to Paul Graham, reported by PPC Land and OpenTweet.
- Creator payouts change (January 2026): KuCoin News.
- Premium and reach (18M+ posts, 2025): Buffer.
- 2023 open-source weights (for the myth above): PostEverywhere.
- Grok on X (November 2026): "Top 5 reach killers on X right now", from links in the main post through bait.
- Disclosure: FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR 255) and the SEC's 2022 Kim Kardashian / EthereumMax settlement ($1.26M).
- Crypto Twitter practice: Lauren Mae, "What to actually post on CT in 2026", Spirit Capital, XEngage (vendor blogs; treat their numbers as estimates).
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