X, formerly known as Twitter, has changed a lot ever since Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired the company. Part of the reason he bought the platform is to clean it up by reducing or removing misinformation. While he has done some strange things to achieve that, the recently implemented policy helps his cause.
Community vs Misinformation
Having moderators might not be enough to make sure that the posts on the platform are all true. With around 350,000 posts per minute, even having an automated algorithm that flags content that violates the rules may not cut it. After all, X is still filled with false information.
With that said, the company implemented Community Notes, wherein users who are active on X can correct the error or mention that there's context missing. Anyone who wants to contribute can sign up for the program to rid X of misinformation.
The company is taking advantage of the fact-checking system by using it to spot users who aim to monetize false content. Elon Musk said that the idea is "to maximize the incentive for accuracy over sensationalism," as reported by Tech Crunch.
It's likely that some people will report a post for misinformation just for the purpose of taking it down. However, the X owner warned that anyone who plans to "weaponize Community Notes to demonetize people will be immediately obvious, because all code and data is open source."
X has always been a hotbed for false information, and it usually becomes rampant when there are controversial issues currently happening such as the Israel-Hamas war or the Ukraine vs Russia war. Users try to shape the narrative by falsifying statements or photos.
It will be 99% against 1%, considering that out of 500 million monthly active users, only 950,000 are subscribed to X Premium. While it's a good idea to let the many monitor the few, it could also hurt X's relationship with Premium subscribers in the long run.
Even with just 1%, 950,000 subscribers bring in a lot of money for the company. With this new policy, problems may arise, and content creators might have their posts demonetized even if they shouldn't be. That will only alienate the relatively few users who are still willing to pay.
Revenue-Sharing Program
Back in July 2023 when X was still Twitter, it announced that it was sharing its ad revenue to content creators. It came as a pleasant surprise since even earlier, the company already had a reputation for being greedy after its new API pricing, subscription tier, and more.
Before a user qualifies for the program, they will have to be X Premium subscribers first. Part of the revenue earned from the ads that appear on their reply threads will be their share, although it's still unclear what the percentage of the cut is.
As mentioned in The Verge, the first payment was the accumulation of all the ad sale shares since February, which was when the program was announced. Depending on your number of followers, the revenue can be worth the monthly fee.
