A week ago, GitHub integrated its homepage feed with algorithm-generated suggestions, which upset many users of the Microsoft-owned code-hosting platform.
On Tuesday, in response to the negative feedback, GitHub acknowledged that some of the criticized behavior was caused by bugs, which have since been resolved. However, GitHub reaffirmed its decision to merge the previously distinct “Following” and “For You” feeds. The “Following” feed contained updates related to people users followed and repositories they were monitoring. This was a deliberate choice made by developers who wanted to keep track of specific code and contributors.
Previously, GitHub had two separate feeds: the “Following” feed, which displayed updates related to users and repositories they followed, and the “For You” feed, which featured activity and recommendations based on a user’s GitHub network, determined by GitHub’s social algorithm and user behavior data. However, as of last week, GitHub merged these feeds in an effort to alleviate the load on its servers and enhance platform performance, as explained in a post on September 6, 2023.
As a result, we removed the functionality for ‘push events for repositories a user is subscribed to’. We don’t take these changes lightly, but as our community continues to grow tremendously, we have to prioritize our availability, user experience, and performance.
The biz explained in a post on Tuesday
An engineer working at a developer of IT infrastructure management software, who preferred to remain anonymous due to lacking authorization for media statements, expressed their views to The Register via email. The engineer stated, “GitHub has attempted a similar change in the past, and it was met with resistance from their users. They are removing a valuable feature and substituting it with algorithm-driven social content. It’s as if they overlooked the fact that their platform is primarily used for productive work, not just aimless browsing of issues, pull requests, and the latest JavaScript frameworks.”
We understand that many of you are upset with the recent changes to your feed. We should have done a better job communicating recent changes and how those decisions relate to our broader platform goals. Your continued feedback is invaluable as we evolve and continue to strive to provide a first-class developer experience that helps every developer be happier and more productive.
GitHub
Currently, developers who favor the previous feed format have a few options. They can employ a workaround user-script or access a GitHub page that still provides the old format. Alternatively, they can explore alternative code hosting platforms.
