Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

An inside look at X’s Community Notes | Keith Coleman (VP of Product) and Jay Baxter (ML Lead)

Feb 27, 2025

Keith Coleman, VP of Product at Twitter/X, and Jay Baxter, founding ML engineer, dive into the creation of Community Notes, a groundbreaking crowdsourced fact-checking system. They discuss the innovative algorithm rewarding neutral consensus, the project's survival through leadership changes, and its unexpected chaotic beginnings. Learn how they prioritize rapid, impactful team operations sans traditional project management tools. Finally, they reflect on Community Notes' potential to reshape online misinformation and its adoption by competitors, spotlighting the growing importance of community-driven content verification.

01:47:57

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Episode guests

Jay Baxter

Keith Coleman

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Community Notes utilizes an innovative algorithm focusing on 'bridging agreement' to enhance information accuracy and counter misinformation.

The project maintains consistent support from leadership throughout CEO transitions due to its clear mission of providing helpful information.

Anonymity encourages wider participation in Community Notes, allowing users to contribute honestly without fear of backlash, enriching diverse perspectives.

Future enhancements will incorporate AI tools and the concept of Super Notes, aiming to streamline note generation while maintaining quality.

Deep dives

Understanding Community Notes

Community Notes allows users on X to add context to potentially misleading posts they observe. When a user identifies a misleading post, they can propose a note that others can rate for helpfulness. This unique mechanism rewards notes that achieve consensus from people with previously opposing views, contributing to a more balanced and accurate representation of information. Ultimately, the goal of Community Notes is to empower individuals to make informed decisions by enhancing the information available to them.

Intro

4min

Understanding Community Notes: Enhancing Context and Accuracy on X

3min

Empowering Community-Based Fact-Checking

10min

Navigating Misinformation through Community Notes

27min

Building a Small Yet Effective Team for Algorithm Development

4min

Innovating Through Competition and Collaboration

26min

Navigating the Complexities of Open-Sourcing Algorithms

2min

Harnessing Community for Fact-Checking

27min

Finding Common Ground in Polarized Opinions

4min

Keith Coleman (VP of product) and Jay Baxter (founding ML engineer), the minds behind Community Notes, reveal how a small, scrappy team inside Twitter/X built the most trusted crowdsourced information system on the internet—one that’s changing the way we understand truth online. What you’ll learn:

1. How Community Notes actually works—a deep dive into the groundbreaking algorithm that rewards “bridging agreement” instead of majority rule

2. The seemingly crazy yet brilliant way this idea survived multiple CEO changes—from Jack to Parag to Elon

3. How this project started with a dumpster fire GIF (literally)—the untold backstory of its early launch

4. The secret to running ultra-fast, high-impact product teams—no OKRs, no Jira; just one Google Doc

5. What Meta’s adoption of Community Notes means for the future of online (mis)information—why this open source system is becoming the industry standard

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-x-built-the-best-fact-checking-system-on-the-internet

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Where to find Keith Coleman:

• X: https://x.com/kcoleman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-coleman-19b12b46/

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