No social media platform has had more stark changes over recent years than X, formerly known as Twitter. When buying the platform, Elon Musk had a stated goal of transforming the platform into an “everything app”. You can already see some of those changes taking shape, with account monetization, cashtags for financial information like stock prices, and other tweaks. Musk has also made wholesale changes to the delivery of content on the platform, prioritizing video content, for instance, while also allowing paid subscribers to create long-form posts; a world away from Twitter’s original
Yet, the most significant changes have arguably come in the style of content. We know that Musk claims to value freedom of speech, so he ripped apart many of the guardrails that previously existed on the site. It’s debatable to what extent hate speech, racism, and abuse proliferated on the platform since those guardrails were removed, but it is clear that many users fled, moving to alternative platforms like Bluesky and Threads.
Many users criticized the algorithm
One issue that was regularly cited by those leaving X – or those threatening to leave – was the fact that X’s algorithms seemed to push political content, as well as content that can only be described as divisive, i.e., fueling culture wars. One solution that was introduced was the Following tab, meaning that you would only see posts from people you specifically follow. If you wanted a more general feed of trending topics, you would go to the Following tab.
Now X has implemented a new feature – Custom Timelines. It was introduced by Nikita Bier (then X’s Head of Product) in April, but it now seems to have rolled out globally. In essence, it creates a new tab beside the For You and Following options, allowing you to choose from 75 different topics and create a feed based on your selection. X claims that the feed is powered by Grok (X’s AI tool) to curate the feed to your personal tastes.
NFL is an option on Custom Timelines
For example, you can select the NFL option from the tab. As the 2026 season has just begun, X users will be discussing the campaign, team successes and failures, Week 2 NFL betting odds and spreads, and everything else. The feed is completely devoted to the NFL, prioritizing accounts you may already follow and using Grok to recommend other posts. After testing for a while, it seems to work remarkably well.
Ladies and gentlemen, today we’re launching one of our biggest changes to 𝕏
Introducing Custom Timelines
This feature allows you to pin a specific topic to your home tab. With support for over 75 topics, you can dive deep into your favorite niche on X.
It’s powered by Grok’s… pic.twitter.com/9jkIEXvubj
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) April 21, 2026
Across the other 74 topics, some are relatively broad and generic, such as “News” and “Music,” while others are more specific, like the aforementioned NFL and Esports. The NFL seems to be the only official brand there at the moment, but there will surely be scope to add topics like the NBA or Premier League in the future.
Is it enough to win back disgruntled users? That remains to be seen, but it is a key consideration that many who left or claim to not use the platform as much anymore say that the main problem was that X didn’t show them the topics and people that they were interested in, showing instead the hot-button topics that divide opinion. Some users are happy with that, believing it ties in with Musk’s mantra of having the platform be “the world’s town square”. However, many are not. This Custom Timelines feature might be the entry point to bringing them back.
