X, the social media platform that Elon Musk's SpaceX owns for some reason, is once again tinkering with how it pays the people who keep the content machine running. The company announced it will be phasing out its existing Revenue Sharing program in favor of something called Original Content Rewards. New participants are already being turned away, while current ones can keep cashing in until September 7. Come September 8, they'll be eligible to apply for the shiny new program, provided they jump through the usual hoops: a Premium subscription, 500 verified followers, and 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within 90 days. But the real twist? Originality.

What counts as 'original' in X's eyes? Original reporting and analysis, photos and videos you actually took or made, and memes or graphics you designed yourself. Commentary is fine too, but if you're just recycling other people's work, you'd better add some 'meaningful original value.' The company even helpfully listed what won't cut it: posts copied from other accounts, downloaded and re-uploaded content, and reposts without 'meaningful transformation.' So, basically, the entire internet as we know it.

This isn't X's first rodeo with revenue reform. In April, they tried to cut payments to aggregators and clickbait accounts, which went over about as well as you'd expect. Popular accounts complained, and Musk, ever the people pleaser, reversed some changes to give creators' local audiences more weight in payout calculations. Now, X's Allegra Jacchia says the old program's incentives were 'misaligned.' 'Creators should be focused on bringing net new content to the platform instead of maximizing payouts,' she said. 'We could have kept adding more rules and exceptions, but ultimately the better decision was to start fresh and build a program designed from day one to reward originality.' Because nothing says 'fresh start' like yet another pivot from a platform that's been flailing for years. Jacchia promised the company will keep 'refining the program, improving our models, and raising the bar over time.' We'll believe it when we see it.