X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is replacing its Revenue Sharing programme with a new system that will reward original content.
The company said it would stop accepting new participants for its existing Revenue Sharing programme, while current participants would continue earning money until September 7.
From September 8, creators will be able to apply for the new Original Content Rewards programme. They will still need to subscribe to one of X’s Premium tiers and meet the qualifying thresholds of 500 verified followers and 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users over 90 days.
The main change is a greater focus on original content. X said this could include original reporting and analysis, photos and videos made by the creator, and memes or graphics designed by them. Commentary will also qualify, but creators who regularly use material made by others will have to add meaningful original value.
Posts copied from another account, downloaded from one account and re-uploaded to another, or reposted without meaningful transformation will not count as original content, according to X.
The change follows several attempts by X to reform its Revenue Sharing programme. In April, the company reduced payments to aggregators and accounts it described as engaging in “clickbait”. The changes drew complaints from popular accounts that benefited from the existing system, and Musk later reversed some measures after a backlash.
In a post about the new programme, X’s Allegra Jacchia said the existing system had reached a point where its incentives were “misaligned”.
She said creators should focus on bringing new content to the platform rather than maximising payouts. Jacchia said X could have continued adding rules and exceptions, but decided instead to start again with a programme designed to reward originality.
She added that X would continue to refine the programme, improve its models and raise the standard over time.
