X Revamps Creator Payment Model To Favour Engagement. What About Content Quality?

Social media platform X is changing its creator payment policy to reduce its reliance on ad revenue.

Previously, creators received a percentage of the ad revenue generated from ads displayed in their replies. Now, X plans to pay creators directly based on engagement with their content from X’s Premium users.

This shift means creators will benefit more from engagement-driven posts, potentially leading to a rise in content that sparks discussions, including inflammatory posts designed to provoke user reactions.

In its announcement on X, the company did not mention any plans to monitor this new system to reduce engagement bait. Instead, it claimed that creators would earn more money under the revised structure.

With the timing coinciding with the upcoming U.S. elections, this change might also lead to an increase in politically charged rage bait, including misinformation such as AI-generated deepfakes, to capture attention.