X will wind down its Creator Revenue Sharing program and replace it with Original Content Rewards, a new payment system intended to favor original reporting, analysis, images, video and meaningfully transformed work. The platform said existing participants can continue earning through Sept. 7, with applications for the replacement program scheduled to open Sept. 8.
The transition changes more than the name of X’s creator incentive. It moves the company away from a program tied to engagement from verified users and toward an editorial judgment about originality and value. X described the new approach in an announcement from its creators account.
What X says will qualify
Under the announced framework, eligible work can include first-person reporting, original analysis, creator-produced photos and video, and memes or graphics made by the account posting them. Commentary on existing material may qualify when it adds meaningful original value.
Copied posts, simple reuploads and content that has not been substantially transformed will not qualify, according to the company’s description. That distinction gives X broad discretion to decide when aggregation becomes contribution—a line that publishers, creators and brand teams often interpret differently.
TechCrunch reported that applicants will need an X Premium subscription, at least 500 verified followers and 500,000 verified Home Timeline impressions during the previous 90 days. X’s existing help page still described the outgoing revenue-sharing program when this article was prepared, making the Sept. 8 application materials important for final eligibility and payment details.
Why X is changing the incentive
Allegra Jacchia, an X executive working on creator initiatives, said the old incentives had become misaligned. In practice, engagement-based rewards can encourage posts optimized for replies, outrage or repetition rather than original work. A system that pays for source material and informed analysis could reward accounts that invest more time in creation.
But originality is harder to measure than impressions. Automated systems can identify exact copies, yet reporting, commentary and transformation require context. X will need to explain how it handles disputes, appeals, syndicated work, collaborative production and material originally published off-platform.
The program also creates a provenance challenge. A creator who reports a fact, a publisher that distributes it and an aggregator who popularizes it may all contribute to its reach. Rewarding the first party fairly depends on reliable timestamps, attribution and enforcement against near-duplicates.
What the shift means for media and brands
For newsrooms and independent journalists, the change could make X a more meaningful source of direct income if payments favor reported work rather than reaction. It also may increase the value of clearly documented sourcing and recognizable author identity on the platform.
For marketers, the new rules are a warning against treating social publishing as a high-volume reposting operation. Teams may need to invest in original research, executive perspective, custom visuals and creator-led storytelling. Agencies should also revisit content rights: being authorized to distribute an asset does not necessarily make the post “original” under a platform’s payment policy.
The economic details remain incomplete. X has not yet publicly explained payment rates, the size of the reward pool or how it will score different forms of content. Those terms will determine whether Original Content Rewards changes creator behavior or merely changes the label attached to payouts.
The strategic direction, however, is clear. X is trying to make originality—not engagement alone—the currency of its creator economy. Its next task is proving that it can define and enforce that standard consistently.