Elon Musk’s X Needs Creators, but They Don’t Need X
Two months after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the billionaire hopped on a video call with a handful of creators, seeking advice about how to make his platform better for them and asking how YouTube attracts creators. Podcaster Samir Chaudry told Musk that YouTube had a well-established system for creators to make money through advertising revenue. More than a year after meeting with Musk, Chaudry says X’s strategy for creators still isn’t clear.
“They have to start showing us the path to building a business on the platform," he said in an interview. Musk pledged big paydays to creators on X, seeking to make the platform a worthy rival of sites like Google’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok, where creators’ viral content attracts eyeballs and advertisers. Last year, X launched an ad-revenue-sharing program as a key part of its efforts to attract creators.
So far, X is still trailing well behind platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Meta Platforms’ Instagram as a destination for many creators, according to surveys and interviews with creators and marketers who work with them. Some creators have cited concerns about the state of X’s advertising business as a hurdle to the platform’s efforts to woo them, while others have complained about payments being inconsistent. Many creators say X is still a long way away from becoming an important source of revenue for them.
Some creators in niches like financial news have found success on the platform. “We all still use it every day," Chaudry said about X. But, he added, “if we’re going to post original content there, I think we need to understand the path to success." Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have touted the company’s push to attract creators, which is important because creators
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