Since X introduced the Creator Ads Revenue Sharing program, posting has become more than just a way to stay relevant online. For many creators, it’s now a potential income stream. In Nigeria, this has created a wave of engagement farming.
To get paid, a creator needs millions of impressions from verified (Blue tick) users. Before the recent cuts, the payout rate was roughly $8.50 per 1 million verified impressions. And so, for these creators, the fastest way to get a verified X user to reply is simply by being provocative.
By posting intentionally controversial takes on marriage, tribalism, or trending news, these creators trigger a flood of angry replies. The goal is simply to trigger reactions. Every angry reply, every quote tweet, and every argument adds to impression counts. And more impressions mean more money.
X introduces measures to combat engagement farming
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that some users were selling monetisation courses for as low as ₦3,000. These guides instructed people on how to manipulate the algorithm through coordinated engagement, in which groups of creators agreed to reply to each other’s posts to inflate numbers. They also encouraged low-effort spam by posting over 100 stolen videos or copy-paste news updates daily, or by using urgent labels on every single post to trick users into clicking.
However, in February 2026. X’s AI, Grok, flagged nearly 80% of Nigerian creators for engagement manipulation. Payouts were frozen, and many who expected hundreds of dollars woke up to empty dashboards.
On March 25, 2026, Elon Musk briefly paused some of the planned changes to the revenue-sharing program following significant backlash from creators worldwide. The program initially wanted to focus payouts based on the creator’s local audience. The pause offered a temporary window of hope for those relying on the old system, but it was short-lived as the platform has now moved toward stricter quality controls.
The crackdown has only intensified. On April 12, 2026, X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, announced a massive crackdown on aggregators (accounts that just repost other people’s content or news).
“X will never infringe on speech or reach, but we will not compensate for manipulation of the program or our users,” Bier tweeted.
According to the update, aggregator accounts have their payouts slashed by 60%. X is also assigning a permanent deduction to habitual bait posters who use the words “BREAKING” or “You won’t believe this…” on every post. Accounts built around recycled or low-effort content face ongoing deductions.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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The goal is to shift revenue away from engagement farming and toward original content.
While Nigeria’s creator economy is growing fast, it remains fragile. Many creators still struggle to earn consistently, and global platforms like X offer one of the few accessible monetisation options. In that environment, these creators respond to incentives, and the result is a timeline increasingly shaped not by value but by what performs.
