Three days into X’s new creator rewards system, the change is already exposing a divide in Nigeria’s creator economy: between those who have built audiences around original work and those who have built them around attention itself. X began rolling out its Original Content Rewards programme on September 8, replacing Creator Revenue Sharing. The new system pays eligible creators based on qualified impressions from X Premium users viewing original content on their Home Timeline.
Under the previous system, activity around a post could translate into earnings, creating an incentive for controversy, engagement farming and rage-bait. The new programme puts greater emphasis on original posts, videos, images, articles and commentary, while substantially copied and automated content does not qualify. For Nigerian creators, that distinction is significant because X has become one of the country’s most important arenas for public commentary.
Politics, business, football, entertainment and breaking news can turn an account into a large audience within hours. But much of that ecosystem has been built around reaction: quoting, reposting, adding a hot take and moving on to the next controversy. That should benefit Nigerian creators whose work depends on expertise rather than simply speed. A journalist who brings reporting to a breaking story has something different from an account that reposts it.
A technology creator who explains AI through the Nigerian business environment has a clearer proposition than one recycling global tech news. A finance analyst who consistently interprets markets, or a culture writer who develops a distinctive perspective, can build an audience around knowledge that cannot easily be copied. It also comes with a tougher reality: originality does not replace reach.
Creators still need an active X Premium subscription, at least 500 verified followers and 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users over the previous 90 days, among other conditions.