Despite X's push to attract creators, its strategy remains unclear, as some creators cite concerns about the state of X's ad business and inconsistent payments
& to some extent, remain! — journalists: https://www.wsj.com/... That's one reason Musk's animus towards “legacy media” & the press has been uniquely damaging to @X's present — & future. [image] @madscapital : “Less than 1% of over 200 brands and marketing agencies surveyed by creator-marketing company CreatorIQ in August and September said X delivers the greatest return on investment. Instagram topped the return on investment rankings.” https://www.wsj.com/... Alexa Corse / @alexacorse : Some creators have found success on the platform. I spoke to @Jake__Wujastyk. He largely uses a subscription model: users pay for his paywalled posts about the stock market. He makes a living off X. https://www.wsj.com/... Alexa Corse / @alexacorse : NEW: I dug into Elon Musk's efforts to entice creators to X. Some creators have cited concerns about the state of X's advertising business as a hurdle to the platform's efforts to woo them. Others have complained about payments being inconsistent. https://www.wsj.com/... Alexa Corse / @alexacorse : Last year, X launched an ad-revenue-sharing program as a key part of its efforts to attract creators. But that depends on having advertisers spending big. (Musk has acknowledged that hurdle.) https://www.wsj.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
X's creator push follows earlier attempts to expand its monetization base: it lowered the eligibility bar for ad-revenue sharing while also pursuing smaller advertisers through outsourced sales support. But agencies had already reported that brands were reluctant to return, or were being advised to stop posting, after Musk's comments drove a brand-safety retreat.
The tension is that creator compensation depends on a healthier advertising market, while the surveyed marketers overwhelmingly ranked Instagram higher on return on investment. A paywalled subscription business can work for individual creators such as Jake Wujastyk, but it does not by itself clarify X's broader creator proposition.
First-order effects
- Creators weighing X as a primary publishing venue face less predictable income when revenue-share payments are inconsistent, making subscriptions and off-platform revenue more important.
- X's effort to recruit and retain creators is immediately constrained by concern that its ad business cannot reliably fund creator payouts; advertisers see a platform whose reported ROI standing trails Instagram.
Second-order effects
- Creators and agencies have a stronger incentive to prioritize platforms with clearer monetization and advertiser demand, raising the cost for X to win exclusive or sustained output.
- X may need to make its creator economics and ad-sales strategy more legible: its earlier small-business advertising push addresses demand, but creator trust also requires dependable payment operations.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern persists, creator programs will be judged less by headline revenue-sharing access than by the durability of the advertising and subscription systems behind them—a version of the [[a:concepts#subscription-scale-trap|subscription scale trap]].
- The market could further separate into broad platforms that monetize creators through advertiser demand and narrower services where a smaller set of creators monetizes directly through paid audiences; X's eventual position remains unresolved.
The trend: Social platforms are increasingly competing for creators on the reliability of their full monetization stack—advertiser demand, payout mechanics, and direct subscriptions—not simply on reach or revenue-share promises.