For creators who built their X careers around viral posts, reposts and engagement-driven content, a major change is underway.
X has officially retired its Creator Revenue Sharing programme and is replacing it with Original Content Rewards, a system designed to put much greater emphasis on original writing, reporting, commentary, photos, videos and other creative work. Existing creators are being required to apply again rather than automatically transferring into the new programme.
And some creators are already discovering that having a large audience does not necessarily guarantee monetisation.
Under the new system, meeting the basic requirements only makes a creator eligible to apply; it does not guarantee acceptance. If an application is rejected, the creator can appeal once. If that appeal fails, X says the creator must wait 90 days before applying again, while continuing to meet the eligibility requirements.
That changes the economics of being an X creator.
X is moving from attention to originality
The old revenue-sharing model helped create an environment where impressions were extremely valuable.
That encouraged some creators to chase whatever generated the largest possible engagement: controversial posts, recycled stories, viral screenshots, political arguments and endless reposting.
The new programme appears designed to change that incentive.
X says Original Content Rewards is intended to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity and commentary to the platform.
That distinction is important.
There is a difference between having millions of impressions and actually producing something worth paying for.
A creator who copies a news story and adds two sentences may generate enormous engagement.
Another creator may spend three hours researching, interviewing sources and producing an original analysis that receives fewer views.
For the future of the creator economy, the second model is arguably more valuable.
The repost economy is under pressure
For years, social media rewarded distribution.
Find something interesting.
Repost it.
Add a provocative caption.
Wait for engagement.
Repeat.
This created a massive ecosystem of aggregation accounts.
Some became extremely influential without necessarily producing original journalism, analysis or creative work.
X's new approach could make that business model considerably harder to monetise.
The platform has specifically positioned the new programme around original content, rather than simply rewarding the ability to generate impressions.
That could have a particularly significant impact on political-content accounts.
Political content is one of the easiest ways to generate engagement on X because controversy produces comments, arguments, quote-posts and prolonged conversations.
But high engagement does not automatically equal high-quality content.
The new system potentially gives X greater leverage to distinguish between attention and contribution.
Political creators face a complicated future
There is another important distinction.
X's Original Content Rewards eligibility rules exclude political and government organisations from the programme. That does not mean every individual who discusses politics is automatically excluded; rather, the rules establish restrictions around eligible account types and content, meaning creators operating heavily in political spaces need to pay close attention to the programme's terms.
This is especially relevant because X has become one of the world's most important platforms for political conversation.
Politicians, activists, journalists, commentators and ordinary users routinely use the platform to shape public opinion.
If monetisation becomes increasingly tied to originality and account quality, some controversial accounts could find themselves facing greater scrutiny.
That raises an important question:
Can X simultaneously be the internet's political town square and a tightly controlled creator marketplace?
The answer may determine the future of political content on the platform.
The creator economy is becoming more professional
X's changes reflect a broader evolution across social media.
Platforms increasingly want creators who produce content rather than simply exploit algorithms.
YouTube has long rewarded original video production.
TikTok has built increasingly sophisticated creator monetisation systems.
Instagram continues to prioritise original content and creator ecosystems.
Now X is moving in the same direction.
The underlying message is straightforward:
If the platform is going to pay you, it increasingly wants to know what you actually created.
That is a significant change from the early social-media economy, when being first to repost something could be enough to build a huge following.
But there is a downside
Stricter monetisation rules can also hurt legitimate creators.
A creator can be original and still be rejected.
A journalist can produce excellent work without generating massive verified impressions.
A commentator can offer valuable analysis that does not fit neatly into an algorithmic definition of "original content."
X itself acknowledges that satisfying the requirements does not guarantee admission.
That means creators now have to think beyond follower count.
They need to understand the platform's rules, maintain account quality and build audiences around content that they actually own or create.
AI makes this even more important
The timing is particularly interesting because generative AI is making it easier than ever to produce content.
Thousands of posts can be generated in minutes.
AI can summarise articles.
It can rewrite tweets.
It can create images.
It can produce videos.
It can imitate writing styles.
It can even generate seemingly original commentary.
This creates a massive problem for social platforms.
If everyone can produce unlimited content, content itself becomes less valuable.
What becomes valuable is authenticity, expertise, reputation, originality and trust.
That may explain why X is placing greater emphasis on original contributions.
The platform has to prevent its monetisation programme from becoming an incentive for automated content farms to flood the network.
For Nigerian creators, the message is especially important
Nigeria has one of Africa's most active social-media creator communities.
X is an important platform for Nigerian journalists, commentators, entrepreneurs, influencers and political voices.
For many creators, monetisation represented a new opportunity to earn internationally without needing a traditional media company.
That opportunity remains—but the strategy may have to change.
Instead of simply reposting breaking news, creators should add analysis.
Instead of copying headlines, explain what they mean.
Instead of aggregating other people's videos, produce original reporting.
Instead of chasing every controversy, develop expertise.
Instead of building a following around outrage alone, build credibility.
The creators who adapt fastest could ultimately benefit from the change.
X is telling creators what it wants
The most important thing about the new programme may not be the 90-day waiting period.
It is the philosophy behind the programme.
X is effectively saying:
Followers are not enough.
Impressions are not enough.
Virality is not enough.
Being controversial is not enough.
If you want X to pay you, the platform increasingly wants you to create something worth paying for.
That could make X a harder platform for creators in the short term.
But it could also make the creator economy healthier in the long term.
The era of simply turning attention into money may be ending.
The next era may belong to creators who can turn knowledge, creativity, reporting and originality into attention—and then into sustainable income.
And for creators who have built their entire business around reposting, the 90-day rejection window may be more than a waiting period.
It may be a warning to **change the business model.**
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