X updates creator revenue sharing parameters, focusing on original content incentives

X recently announced updates to its creator revenue share program, aimed at better incentivizing original content creators and further curbing content aggregation and reposting accounts. The program has been renamed the "Original Creator Rewards" program, with new parameters set around what constitutes "original content." All participating creators must comply with these new restrictions to earn revenue.

X officially explained: "Creating original content takes time, effort, expertise, and creativity. The Original Content Rewards program is designed to reward creators who bring these values to X. We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment content, and contribute meaningful perspectives to conversations." X added that the goal of the new incentive program is simple: "to reward creators who bring new content to X."

According to the overview released by X, the types of content that now qualify as original include:

• Original text, post threads, articles, reports, or analysis;
• User-created photos or videos;
• User-designed memes, graphics, illustrations, and other creative works;
• Comments, reactions, or insights that add meaningful perspectives to existing conversations;
• Content that substantially and meaningfully transforms existing content through original context, analysis, narrative, humor, or creative editing.

More importantly, X also listed what no longer counts as original and therefore will no longer be eligible for monetization. Key exclusions include:

• Works copied or substantially reproduced from other creators;
• Content downloaded from X or other platforms and re-uploaded to X (unless the user is the original author of that content);
• Content created or published through automated means;
• Content focused solely on monetization tutorials, monetization discussions, or maximizing earnings;
• Content containing false information or misleading content;
• Content that only adds descriptive captions or text overlays without substantially processing the content.

Notably, the attribution of AI-generated content under these new parameters remains unclear. Technically, AI-generated images and videos may fall under "created using automated means," but X did not explicitly mention AI-generated content in the new rules. This could become a point of contention, depending on how X enforces these rules.

Additionally, X's definition of "false information" differs from other platforms, especially regarding political topics. X increasingly relies on crowdsourced "Community Notes" to determine content accuracy, with no internal moderation team. The main flaw in this process is that Community Notes only appear when note contributors with opposing political views reach consensus. On many political issues, such consensus may never be reached, so a certain degree of misinformation is often allowed.

According to a Bloomberg analysis report released last March, fewer than 10% of Community Notes submitted through X's notes system ultimately appear in the app, despite many of these notes having reasonable grounds for display.

X's revenue share program is currently still only available to X Premium subscribers, with earnings calculated based on "unique impressions from Premium users on the home timeline." Therefore, the program's reach is quite limited, especially given that X Premium users account for less than 1%. Nevertheless, some X users have been able to earn stable, substantial income through posting, so the program is still worth considering for users who share original content.

It is also worth observing how significantly this update will change X's feed, and the impact of penalizing aggregation accounts on X's engagement rates. In May of this year, in SpaceX's prospectus, X's parent company reported that X users generate approximately 350 million posts per day in total. This figure is lower than the 500 million daily posts X reported in 2023. The 500 million total at that time was broken down into 100 million original posts, 100 million replies, and 300 million quotes and reposts. SpaceX did not provide the same breakdown for the 350 million posts. But on the surface, posting momentum in the app appears to be slowing. Reducing incentives for sharing content could further impact this trend.

Perhaps, more than boosting user engagement, X is more focused on improving content feed quality, because X's posts serve as input to xAI's database, powering its AI projects. The cleaner the content feed, the higher its value in that context, which in itself may be sufficient reason to optimize the feed.

In any case, this is another step X has taken to incentivize original creators and reduce incentives for aggregation accounts. It is also a key focus for the app in 2026. In April of this year, X announced adjustments to its incentive program aimed at reducing earnings for aggregation accounts; in March, X implemented measures to demonetize AI deepfake content; in January, X attempted to limit mass posting by cryptocurrency projects; in March, X proposed a new plan to remove incentives for creators posting about political topics outside their own countries, but X owner Elon Musk vetoed the plan after some of his favorite users complained.

Clearly, optimizing the content feed has become a key means for X to improve its content ecosystem, but it remains unclear whether this is to boost user retention and engagement metrics or to clean up data sources.

X stated that the new program will launch on September 8, and all creators currently participating in the existing "Creator Revenue Share" program must reapply under the new parameters. X said: "Starting today, we are no longer accepting new revenue share registrations. If you currently participate in revenue share, you will continue to earn until September 7, 2026... Starting September 8, 2026, we will begin opening applications for the new Original Content Rewards program to existing revenue share members." X added that creators must meet the program's revised eligibility requirements and can check their account's eligibility status in the Creator Studio.