X Replaces Revenue Sharing With 'Original Content Rewards' Program
The platform is shifting its payout model to penalize engagement farming and reward unique content creation.
X is winding down its Creator Revenue Sharing program and replacing it with a new initiative called Original Content Rewards. The move marks a fundamental shift in how the platform compensates creators, moving away from general impression counts toward the production of unique material.
Under the transition plan, X has stopped accepting new participants into the current revenue sharing program. Creators already enrolled in the system will continue to earn payouts until September 7, 2026. Applications for the Original Content Rewards program are scheduled to open the following day, on September 8, 2026.
To qualify for the new rewards program, creators must meet several strict eligibility criteria. Applicants are required to maintain an X Premium subscription and possess at least 500 verified followers. Additionally, they must have generated 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within a 90-day window.
A Pivot Away from Clickbait
This overhaul follows a period of instability regarding X's monetization strategy. In April 2026, the company attempted to reform revenue sharing to limit payouts to aggregators and "clickbait" accounts. Those adjustments faced significant backlash from high-profile creators, prompting Elon Musk to pause some of the changes in March 2026. Rather than continuing to apply incremental rules to a system the company views as flawed, X has opted to restart the process entirely.
Allegra Jacchia of X stated that the company could have continued adding rules and exceptions, but decided the better path was to "start fresh and build a program designed from day one to reward originality." Jacchia emphasized that creators should focus on bringing "net new content to the platform instead of maximizing payouts."
The War on Engagement Farming
The strategic pivot is a direct attempt to combat "engagement farming" and the proliferation of low-effort content aggregation. By explicitly rewarding original reporting, creative media, and deep analysis, X aims to penalize simple reposts or what it describes as "meaningless transformations" of existing content.
For the broader industry, this signals a move toward valuing intrinsic platform value over raw traffic metrics. By shifting the incentive structure, X is attempting to attract high-quality journalists and creators while discouraging users who treat the platform as a volume-based payout engine.
What to Watch
As the September 8 application date approaches, the industry will be watching to see if the new eligibility thresholds—particularly the 500,000 verified impression requirement—effectively filter out low-effort accounts without alienating mid-tier original creators. It remains to be seen how X will technically define and enforce "originality" to prevent users from finding new ways to game the rewards system.