Elon Musk’s X Needs Creators But Isn’t Yet Meeting Their Needs

The social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, has been putting efforts into capturing the creator market. However, creators say X still has a long road ahead to become a main source of revenue for them.

A couple of months after the acquisition of Twitter took place by Elon Musk, he jumped on a video call with some creators to get guidance on how to make the platform better for them. He also asked them how YouTube attracts creators.

Samir Chaudry, a podcaster, said to Musk that YouTube had a well-established system for creators to monetize through advertising revenue.

In an interview over a year after the meeting with Musk and other creators, Chaudry noted that X’s strategy for creators still is not clear. “They have to start showing us the path to building a business on the platform,” he said.

In a bold move to raise the status of his platform, Elon Musk pledged to offer large payouts to creators on X. He aspires to position X alongside industry giants like YouTube and TikTok, where viral content brings in huge audiences and advertisers’ attention, and ultimately he wants to create market dominance.

An ad-revenue-sharing program was launched last year to attract creators. However, the platform is still far behind giants like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as a destination for content creators.

Some creators have raised concerns about the state of X’s advertising business as a challenge to the platform’s efforts to attract them. At the same time, complaints have surfaced regarding the inconsistency of payments on X, which further exacerbates challenges faced by creators who rely on the platform for financial stability. All these factors highlight the importance of addressing operational issues to create a more conducive environment for creators to thrive.

Many creators say X still has a long road ahead to become an important source of revenue for them. However, some creators in niche areas, such as financial news, have found success on the platform.

Speaking about X, Chaudry said, “We all still use it every day. If we’re going to post original content there, I think we need to understand the path to success.”

Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have both emphasized the company’s major efforts to attract creators. This focus shows significant importance as creators not only bring in audiences but also have the potential to attract advertisers and, in return, play a critical role in re-directing X’s business trajectory.

According to recent third-party data, X has experienced a drop in daily user numbers. The platform has also experienced apprehension from many major advertisers who are wary of Musk’s relaxing of content rules, controversial tweets, and readiness to publicly criticize brands that remove their ads from X.