Platform X is introducing new video editing and recording features with the aim of motivating creators to publish original material instead of reusing third-party content.
New Editing Features
This update includes functionalities such as the ability to add subtitles in various languages and customize their appearance. Additionally, green-screen tools have been added that can utilize both photos from the phone's gallery and other posts made on X itself.
Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, highlighted that one of the company's main goals is to provide creators with the necessary tools to produce original content and, consequently, reward them. He promised that there will be more improvements to the video editor in the coming weeks.
Video Editor Goal
According to Bier, the intention is to provide a truly functional video editor, allowing certain videos on X to become original content that does not exist on other platforms. He pointed out that many posts from X's most popular accounts contain plagiarized material, sometimes years after the content originally went viral.
Creator Ecosystem Challenges
Recycled content has always been a popular method for gaining visibility on social media, especially due to the financial potential involved. For TechCrunch, it is crucial that X ensures creators can reach a wide and scalable audience to monetize their work effectively. However, for creators to exclusively post on X, more incentives would be needed, given that competitors like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube have well-established ecosystems with regular and reliable payments.
Bier also mentioned that X might need to reevaluate its relationship with creators, citing recent criticism directed at a major YouTube creator, MrBeast, regarding the nature of his content. Furthermore, X lacks native mechanisms that allow creators to report stolen work and take action, unlike the protections offered by Meta to Reel creators. Meta, for example, allows the original owner to block the visibility of copied material or insert attribution links for monetization purposes. YouTube also has long-available tools to locate and remove unauthorized reposts.
Combating Bots and Spam
Furthermore, TechCrunch notes that X needs to tackle its vast population of bots, which contribute to inflating views and performing content scraping and theft. In April, Bier reported that X was identifying and suspending '208 bots per minute, and growing,' illustrating the scale of the problem. Previously, he had stated that half of the product team was dedicated to developing features to reduce spam.
Bier presented other reasons for the update besides the negative impact of recycled content on user experience and business. He observed that posts on X containing videos already account for almost half of the social network's impressions, indicating that the initiative goes beyond a mere attempt to imitate TikTok. X is not the only social network affected by the increase in spam in the age of artificial intelligence. Reddit, for instance, recently announced the implementation of AI tools to manage the growth of spam and bot content driven by large language models (LLMs). Digg, which aimed to be a rival to Reddit, shut down its app earlier this year, citing an inability to combat the overwhelming volume of spam as a new startup.
Finally, Bier confirmed that the video editor and recorder are initially available in the iOS app, while the Android app is still under reconstruction.
