Elon Musk’s social media platform, Twitter, has taken a significant step by initiating payments to content creators from advertising revenues for the first time. This development has caught the attention of numerous influencers; however, not all users are eligible to receive compensation from the platform.
Influencers such as Ian Miles Cheong, Benny Johnson, and Ashley St. Claire, who are considered high-profile figures within the far-right community, shared details of their Twitter earnings prior to the official announcement of monetiation.
“Wow. Elon Musk wasn’t kidding. Content monetisation is real,” tweeted a user named End Wokeness, boasting 1.4 million followers, showcasing earnings surpassing $10,400.
Users who have subscribed to Twitter Blue and have accumulated over 5 million tweet impressions per month for the past three months are eligible to receive earnings.
Elon Musk, who also serves as the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, stated that an initial sum of $5 million will be distributed, accumulating from February onwards. However, the program is only accessible in countries where Stripe, a payment platform, supports payouts.
Renowned writer Brian Krassenstein, boasting approximately 750,000 followers, claimed to have received $24,305 from Twitter. Similarly, SK, another creator with around 230,000 followers, reportedly earned $2,236, while political commentator Benny Johnson, with 1.7 million followers, disclosed earnings of $9,546. Ashley St. Clair, a writer for Babylon Bee, shared that she earned $7,153.
Who will not benefit from Twitter monetisation? According to Twitter’s content monetisation standards, sexual content, as well as pyramid schemes, violence, criminal behaviors, gambling, drugs, and alcohol-related content, cannot be monetised.
In a blog post, Twitter explained that creators’ share of advertising revenue would be determined based on the number of replies to their posts and monthly impressions.
According to a report by The Washington Post, some non-political contributors expressed frustration with the company’s lack of transparency during the program’s rollout.
“My tweets have generated hundreds of millions of impressions for Twitter every year,” stated Matt Navarra, a social media strategist who runs the tech-focused newsletter and community Geekout. He further added, “And I’ve been on the platform for 15+ years. It’s pretty lame that there is no payout coming my way. Twitter has never generated any income directly from all the content I have contributed.”
This development comes shortly after Twitter faced fierce competition from its rival Meta-owned Threats, which witnessed millions of sign-ups within hours of its launch.
