Creators on social media often chase audiences far beyond their home countries to maximise engagement and revenue. X is changing how it rewards content, putting a stronger focus on regional engagement, relevant content, and fair monetisation.
The company aims to make local content more valuable while discouraging users from pretending to be Americans or Japanese, the platform’s largest user bases.
X Head of Product Nikita Bier said the change gives more weight to engagement from a user’s home region, neighbouring countries, and people speaking the same language.
Accounts claiming to be based in the United States or Japan to gain more likes and views will no longer receive financial benefits from those users.
Bier urged users from countries with fewer X users to share their day-to-day experiences instead of discussing politics from the United States.
X last year revealed accounts of popular content using a feature called transparency, which showed accounts based in different countries, including India, Kenya, and Nigeria, discussing politics and Trump, when in fact, they are based in those countries. The accounts received financial benefits from users based in the United States.
The new policy will take effect on Thursday. According to Bier, it aims to build “a much richer community” by making content more relevant for users but also allowing users to comment on global issues without receiving financial benefits for misrepresented locations.