X announced a system to combat 'impression zombie' behavior in Japan and the US that would 'prioritize domestic viewing,' but it was met with a flood of criticism and its implementation was postponed.



X (formerly Twitter) has a ' Creator Revenue Sharing Program ' where creators can receive money based on the number of views their posts receive. This has led to a massive outbreak of 'impression zombies,' who spam AI-generated replies to popular posts in an attempt to increase their view count. On March 25, 2026, an update was announced to 'prioritize views from domestic users' in order to reduce the number of impression zombies in Japan and the United States, but it was postponed due to a flood of opposition.




The update to the revenue sharing program was announced by Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, at 9:36 AM JST on March 25, 2026. Bier stated, 'We are updating the revenue sharing program on Thursday, March 26, 2026, to better reward desirable content. We will be giving greater weight to impressions from users' home regions. This update is intended to encourage content that resonates with people in the same country or neighboring countries as users, and with people who speak the same language as users.'

Furthermore, Mr. Bia stated, 'We hope this update will curb the practice of gaining views from American and Japanese users and instead promote diverse conversations on X,' clearly stating that the update is being implemented as a countermeasure against impression zombies targeting the large user bases of the United States and Japan.

However, Mr. Bia's announcement has been met with a flood of opposition from users who receive more responses from abroad than from their own country. For example, the following user pointed out, 'I spend a lot of time in Brazil, Portugal, and Thailand, but most of the people who view my posts are Americans. This update is not good for digital nomads (IT professionals who travel the world while working).'




Furthermore, the following user stated, 'I live in France, but 43% of my post viewers are American users. We post in English, an international language, to reach more users. This update will punish many accounts that are using an international language without malicious intent,' and is calling for the update to be stopped.




Then, at 3:03 PM JST on March 25, 2026, Elon Musk responded to the above post by writing, 'We will pause and consider this,' declaring that he would temporarily suspend the update to the problematic revenue-sharing program.




Furthermore, Mr. Bia has posted several messages in response to users lamenting the update, stating, 'Based on our recent payments to you, a simulation shows that the update will result in a XX% improvement in revenue.'







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