After experimenting with topic-based feed filters over the past month, X has launched a Custom Timelines option, which will enable X users to pin topic-based feeds to their home tab, and could potentially help expand usage behaviors.
The new Custom Timelines option will allow X users to choose from lists built around 75 of the most discussed topics in the app. They’ll then be able to add those topics as alternative feeds that they can swipe to in-stream.
X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier said this is one of the biggest changes the app has undergone, although it seems very similar to the swipeable topic feeds that Twitter experimented with in 2019. Both features provided another means to engage with a broader range of topics in the app.
Still, it’s another option to enhance topical engagement, which could help to break users out of their regular filter bubbles and get them interacting with a broader range of content and contributors.
X said its new topic feeds are powered by its Grok artificial intelligence system, which analyzes every post and is better at filtering the most relevant updates into these topic streams.
That also allows for personalization, so the listings won’t just be a display of the most popular posts overall within each topic. Instead, they’ll be displayed based on each person’s relative interests within each.
“And it works even better when it’s a topic you already engage with,” X said.
So rather than tapping into listings comprised of posts from specific authors who post on certain subjects, this new approach is focused on the topic detail of each post, and then ranked for each users’ specific engagement behaviors.
As such, Custom Timelines could end up being interesting lists of subject-focused content, which could help to drive more interest and engagement in-stream.
They’ll also act as a replacement of sorts for X’s topic-based Communities, which Bier also announced are being deprecated on May 6th due to declining usage.
Which is interesting, considering that just two years ago, the X team was praising the growth of Communities, and touting these sub-group chats as a key engagement opportunity.
In March 2024, X reported that time spent in Communities had grown by 600% year-over-year, with 650,000 community posts being created daily, while former X CEO Linda Yaccarino had made Communities a key focus during her time at the app.
But now, Communities usage is so low that X is ending support for the feature altogether, which seems like a massive shift in terms of X usage based on these notes.
Maybe, these new list options will provide some form of alternative.
Bier said the new Custom Timelines will be made available to Premium subscribers on iOS first, with Android coming soon. He also announced that X is rolling out an option to snooze topics.
The value of Custom Timelines will be based on the accuracy of Grok’s selection process, and how customized and relevant each topic listing is, but it could provide another means to enhance X usage and engagement.
