Twitter Introduces New Requirements for Creator Ad Revenue Share Program

( Photo: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch)

As Twitter continues its transition to a more creator-focused platform, it is also making significant changes to its creator ad revenue share program. Recently, the program has seen a group of creators receiving substantial first payouts from the platform.

Just as a reminder, Twitter's ad revenue share program is exclusively available to all Twitter Blue subscribers who are actively generating significant engagement on the platform.

In its initial form, the program required creators to amass a minimum of 5 million tweet impressions per month for three consecutive months to qualify. However, according to reliable sources, Twitter is now overhauling this requirement along with several other elements of the program. The goal is to offer better opportunities for Twitter Blue subscribers to monetize their tweets and earn cash from their content.

As per reports, the new requirements for the updated program will be as follows:

• Account must be subscribed to Twitter Blue and have payouts switched on  

• Account must have generated 15 million cumulative impressions over the preceding three months

As a result of these changes, more creators will have the opportunity to qualify for the program, even if they experience a decline in engagement during a specific period. This update takes into account their overall cumulative engagement instead of focusing solely on month-on-month figures.

Moreover, Twitter has set the minimum monthly payout amount at $50, which means creators will start receiving payments once they reach this threshold. Additionally, Twitter is modifying its policies, and creators will no longer be required to have Subscriptions turned on to be eligible for payments. However, they will need to have payouts activated and a connected Stripe account to receive their earnings.

Interestingly, Twitter/X is also shifting its stance on the requirement that content must be entirely original and not primarily comprised of re-posts of other content. This change came about after a specific statement from Twitter's owner, Elon Musk. He noted that:

Anyone engaging in repeated theft of posts be demonetized

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2023

In more recent iterations of the ad revenue share splash screen, the element of reposting content seems to have been removed from the considerations for the program. This might be because some of the highest-earning accounts were found to be reposting a significant amount of content, and even Elon Musk himself has been known for resharing memes without giving proper credit. Perhaps this softened Twitter's stance on the issue, or they may have faced challenges in enforcing such a rule, leading them to downplay its significance compared to their initial suggestion.

To be eligible for the program and get paid to tweet, one now needs to achieve 15 million cumulative engagements over a three-month period and also be subscribed to Twitter Blue. While this requirement represents a considerable level of engagement, it does offer another potential pathway for users to monetize their presence on Twitter.

However, the incentive structure remains problematic, and there might be other concerns regarding how Twitter handles content and engagement.

One such concern is the recent trend of NPC live-streaming, which has gained significant attention online. In this type of streaming, individuals portray a character that responds to stickers posted during the broadcast. The implications of such trends and their impact on the overall platform remain to be seen.

PinkyDoll has become so efficient at the NPC trend she may actually be a robotpic.twitter.com/OOncvuQCpZ

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) July 21, 2023

It seems like Twitter is introducing a new feature where streamers can submit stickers and earn direct revenue from them. This incentive structure encourages creators to maximize the use of stickers to earn more money per stream. Additionally, Twitter's creator revenue share program incentivizes creators to prompt as many replies as possible to earn money from ads shown in the reply stream. Only verified ad views count, and many verified Twitter users support Elon Musk's free speech advocacy.

As a result, creators may resort to using divisive hot takes, particularly on topics of interest to verified users, such as free speech, COVID vaccines, Tesla, and political debates. This approach may lead to increased engagement on these specific elements, but it might not improve the overall user experience. Non-verified users may feel alienated by this push towards contentious content, potentially opening the door for Meta's Threads app to gain more traction as a competitor to Twitter.

Previous research has shown that most people do not want angry political discussions dominating their social media experience, which is why Meta is actively moving away from such content. However, Twitter/X seems to be moving towards it, and this strategy may not be as effective as Elon and his team anticipate. The engagement thresholds set by Twitter could also exclude many users, while those who barely meet the requirements might earn meager amounts for their efforts.

Providing more opportunities for creators to make money is undoubtedly positive, but this specific incentivization approach may become a problem for Elon and his team. The impact of these changes will be revealed when Twitter releases its updated ad revenue share requirements soon.