X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is changing how it pays creators and influencers. The company announced it will wind down its existing Revenue Sharing program and replace it with a new initiative called Original Content Rewards.
New Program Timeline and Requirements
X will stop accepting new Revenue Sharing participants immediately. Existing participants can continue earning through the current program until September 7. Starting September 8, they can apply for the new Original Content Rewards program.
Participants must subscribe to one of X’s Premium tiers to qualify. The program also maintains specific thresholds: 500 verified followers and 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within 90 days. The biggest change lies in the emphasis on originality.
What Qualifies as Original Content?
X outlined several types of content that qualify as original under the new program:
· Original reporting and analysis
· Photos and videos created by the poster
· Memes and graphics designed by the poster
· Commentary that adds meaningful value
However, the company made clear that not all content will qualify. Posts that won’t count as original include:
· Content copied directly from another account
· Material downloaded from one account and re-uploaded to your own
· Reposted content “without meaningful transformation”
If your content regularly incorporates material created by others, you must contribute meaningful original value for it to qualify under the guidelines.
The Revenue Sharing program had “reached a point where its incentives were misaligned,” according to X’s Allegra Jacchia. “Creators should be focused on bringing net new content to the platform instead of maximizing payouts.”
Jacchia explained the decision to launch a new program rather than patch the existing one: “We could have kept adding more rules and exceptions, but ultimately the better decision was to start fresh and build a program designed from day one to reward originality.”
Recent History and Adjustments
This announcement follows repeated attempts by X to reform its Revenue Sharing program. In April, the company reduced payments to aggregators and “clickbait” accounts. These efforts prompted complaints from popular accounts profiting from the current system.
Elon Musk even reversed some changes after backlash, giving creators’ local audiences more weight when calculating payouts. The new Original Content Rewards program appears to be X’s latest attempt to address these ongoing challenges.
Jacchia added that X will “continue refining the program, improving our models, and raising the bar over time.” The platform appears committed to evolving its creator compensation model to better align with its goal of promoting original content creation.
