> anyone can contribute

Contributing to a major open source repo is notoriously difficult. PRs are often ignored, you have to chase down reviewers, people gatekeep, people “steal ideas” and merging theirs first - it’s as muddy as the academic paper scene, at least.

If you could contribute to Twitter’s algorithm it would be a situation where reviewers and star contributors become like influencers - acting on behalf of brands and political orgs.

It could be a new kind of lobbying. And whoever is currently controlling the repo is controlling the algorithm, and the news the people get.