Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pitched a new model for social media curation which would give users the power to choose what algorithms are used to recommend content to them, arguing the approach would offer new opportunities for growth.

On the company’s Q4 2020 earnings call, Dorsey said he was “really excited” by the potential for a “more market-driven and marketplace approach to algorithms”, with “an app store like view” of options for users.

The approach could “not only help our business, but drive more people into participating in social media in the first place”.

It was one of several examples Dorsey gave of ways to “decentralise” control of social media platforms in response to concerns about political bias, pointing to moderation as another area where companies could “give people better tools to curate their experience”.

Metrics
Twitter’s count of monetisable daily active users (mDAU) grew 27 per cent year-on-year to 192 million.

Net income of $222 million increased from $119 million in Q4 2019 and revenue grew 28 per cent to $1.29 billion, the bulk of which came from advertising turnover of $1.15 billion, up 31 per cent.

CFO Ned Segal said Twitter expects a “modest impact” on revenue from a planned iOS privacy update, but anticipates sales growth will outpace expenses in 2021.