X (formerly Twitter) has just announced a major change to its monetization program for creators. From now on, payments will no longer depend on advertising revenue generated by responses to their tweets, but on the engagement generated among Premium users of the platform.
A strategic shift in the face of advertiser flight
This turnaround comes as X is faced with a boycott and flight from numerous advertisers, unhappy with the platform’s moderation policy since its purchase by Elon Musk. By decoupling creators’ remuneration from advertising revenue, X hopes to protect them against the consequences of this hemorrhage.
Concretely, creators will now receive a percentage of revenue from Premium subscriptions, based on the interactions generated by their content with this population of paying users. X also promises that this new formula will be more lucrative for them: “The more Premium subscriptions there are in total, the more money you will be able to earn,” assures the platform.
The risk of encouraging “rage bait” and disinformation
But this system also carries risks. By rewarding raw engagement, regardless of its nature, X could encourage creators to post more divisive and controversial content, designed to generate maximum reactions and comments.
A pitfall already observed on Instagram Threads, where this type of “rage bait” thrives thanks to an algorithm that prioritizes publications generating a lot of responses. A phenomenon that has become so problematic that Instagram boss Adam Mosseri had to publicly acknowledge that “not all comments are good to take.”
Creators! We’re excited to unveil our biggest update to Creator Revenue Sharing yet.
Payouts are increasing and you’ll now be paid based on engagement with your content from Premium users – not ads in replies.
Here’s what’s changing:
— X (@X) October 9, 2024
X does not seem to be overly concerned about this potential drift. The platform has not announced any measures to regulate or penalize bait engagement content. As the US elections approach, we can fear an increase in divisive political content and disinformation, including through deepfakes, with the sole aim of attracting attention and generating revenue.
A risky bet on the increase in Premium subscriptions
By switching to this new model, According to some estimates, the platform currently has less than a million Premium users, far from the 5 million monthly dollars that it has until now paid to creators on average.
To inflate these figures, X is counting on a snowball effect: creators will be encouraged to encourage their audience to subscribe to support them, then these new Premium subscribers will in turn be able to become creators and convert their own followers… mechanism which is reminiscent of a pyramid selling system.
It remains to be seen whether this strategy will pay off, or whether it will only accentuate the degradation of the quality of content and conversations on a platform already plagued by toxicity. One thing is certain: by turning its back on advertisers to focus on creators, X is embarking on a perilous path whose outcome is more than uncertain.
