In our last post, The Ultimate Guide to Building a Personal Brand on X, we talked about the “Growth Engine” and the 80/20 rule: Spend 80% of your time engaging (commenting) and 20% posting.
Many people find this rule… strange.
Why go through all that effort? Why does a post with 100 likes still “die,” while a post with 10 likes and 15 comments goes “viral”?
Welcome to the inner workings of the X algorithm in 2025. If you are just “liking” posts and “posting into the void,” you are wasting your time.
This post will decode why.
”Signals”: What is the X Algorithm “Reading”?
Imagine the X algorithm is a “brain” trying to figure out “What is the most interesting post?” and “Who is the most interesting person?”. To do that, it “weighs” every action you take.
But not all actions are weighed equally.
- 1. Like: This is the weakest signal. It means: “I saw this.” It’s a passive action that takes 0.1 seconds and requires no effort. It has almost zero value for distribution.
- 2. Repost: Slightly better. It means: “I want my followers to see this.”
- 3. Quote: Even better. It means: “I have my own opinion on this.”
- 4. Bookmark: A very strong signal for you personally. You’re telling the algorithm: “This content is VERY valuable, show me more like it.”
- 5. Reply (Comment): This is the GOLDEN SIGNAL. It means: “This content was interesting enough for me to stop, think, and start a conversation.”
In the algorithm’s eyes, one Comment is worth 10, maybe even 20, Likes.
Why is “Conversation” King?
There are 3 main reasons why X (and every social platform) worships conversation.
1. Time on Platform
This is X’s most important metric. Their goal is to keep you (and everyone else) on the platform as long as possible so they can show you ads.
- A “Like” takes 0.1 seconds.
- A “Repost” takes 1 second.
- Reading a post, thinking of a reply, and typing a smart “Comment” takes at least 60 seconds.
When you comment, you are helping X achieve its #1 goal. The algorithm is programmed to reward this behavior. A 10-comment thread can keep 5 people on the platform for 10 minutes.
2. Relationship Signal
The algorithm wants to know who is actually connected to whom.
- You can “Like” 100 strangers a day.
- But you only “Comment” back and forth with 5-10 people you genuinely care about or respect.
When you comment on an expert’s post (and they reply), you send a powerful signal: “I have a relationship with this person.” X will immediately start showing you more of their content, and (more importantly) showing your content to their followers.
3. Value Creation
A post is just a starting point. The real value of X lies in the discussion below the post.
A post asks a question. The comments (debating, adding, or elaborating) are the answers. AI (like Grok) is trained by reading this entire context.
When you comment intelligently, you aren’t just “engaging” – you are “co-creating” value for that post.
How Does This Change Your Strategy?
OK, that’s the theory. Now for the action.
Understanding this means you must fundamentally change how you use X.
- Stop obsessing over “Likes”: They are a vanity metric. They do not equal growth.
- Start “Strategic Commenting”: Instead of scrolling for 30 minutes and dropping 50 “Likes,” spend that 30 minutes finding the 5 best posts in your niche and writing 5 genuinely valuable “Comments.”
- Find the Right “Playground”: Don’t just comment anywhere. Go where the action is: posts from industry leaders, and most importantly, X Communities (where your potential customers are gathered).
Conclusion: From Passive to Active
“Liking” is a passive action. “Commenting” is an active act of authority-building.
When you “Like,” you are an audience member. When you “Comment,” you are stepping onto the stage.
Of course, this raises a new problem: How do you comment intelligently without “running out of ideas”? How do you maintain your “personal voice” in every single comment?
We’ll tackle that exact problem in the next post.
Read Next: How to Find Your “Personal Voice” on X