X Platform Restructures Content Ecosystem with New Rules and Meme Category

Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

On January 22, the X platform updated its "Global Trends" page. After a series of adjustments regarding content and incentive mechanisms, Odaily Planet Daily has compiled the following findings:The platform has added a new, separately categorized Meme section.Various meme images, interesting pictures, and short videos are presented collectively here. Users can intuitively see the current meme themes and emotional trends spreading both inside and outside the platform through this section.

At first glance, this seems more like a lighthearted content curation. However, when viewed in the context of X's recent intensive efforts in content governance, the emergence of this Meme section appears less trivial.

Within X's product logic, content is being re-stratified: what belongs to emotional expression and what is considered informational assets— the platform is beginning to define clearer boundaries through its interface and categorization itself.

Against this backdrop, X has recently gradually tightened its creator incentives and API usage policies, explicitly stating that replies and interactions will no longer contribute to revenue. Ultimately, the platform has directly targeted the InfoFi application model, which relies on external incentives to drive posting and engagement. Within the crypto community, these changes have been quickly interpreted as a signal: the platform is no longer willing to allocate space for a content strategy characterized by "high engagement but low information density."

From the details of the Meme being singled out, X's adjustment this time is not merely closing the old mechanism, but also synchronously building a new one.New Content Order.

Why does "zhuilu" (a slang term for circumventing censorship) become ineffective? X's answer is more direct than "rate limiting."

In the past week, X has indicated through a series of mutually reinforcing rule adjustments:X is redefining what kind of behavior is worth being priced.

The change is first reflected inCreator Revenue RulesOn January 19th, X Product Lead Nikita Bier InWhen responding to user questions or doubts, it is important to be patient, professional, and clear.It was clearly stated that currently, creators' income is calculated solely based on the number of views their content receives on the home page timeline, and exposure generated by replies will no longer be counted toward earnings. This is almost equivalent to directly overturning a long-standing, default assumption about growth—Interaction itself no longer holds monetization value..

X Product Lead Nikita Bier responds to user questions on X.

Under the new pricing system, whether it's high-frequency replies, concentrated screen refreshing, or relying on low-cost content such as "gm" or "+1" to maintain activity, if the content cannot be promoted into the homepage timeline, it will no longer be considered as effective contribution by the platform.

This change did not occur in isolation. In the subsequent explanation, X furtherSupplemented the underlying logic.Ordinary users can only view a very limited amount of content each day. Posting excessively or interacting frequently will not increase your influence; instead, it will deplete your account's daily exposure quota prematurely. When important content is finally posted, the account often has "no remaining quota" left.

In other words, in X's judgment,Excessive interaction is not suppressed, but rather seen as an inefficient, and even self-detrimental, behavioral pattern..

This position also resonates with Nikita Bier's previous public criticisms of the crypto community. In his view, the decline in the influence of crypto-related tweets is not due to deliberate suppression by platform algorithms, but rather a result of the community's long-term reliance on low-value interactions, leading to self-depletion.

From the outcome, X did not deny the existence of "trolling," but instead chose a more direct and calm approach to handle it:Stop paying for this kind of behavior..

When the view count is completely removed from the incentive system, the content model that relies on interaction for profit naturally loses its foundation. The so-called "end of the lip-flipping era" is not a targeted cleanup, but an inevitable outcome following the adjustment of the pricing system.

The real background behind the emergence of Smart Cashtags: X wants to turn "market sentiment" into a consumable object.

While reshaping the creator incentive rules, X is also advancing another more directional product path in parallel—Smart Cashtags.

According to the X product lead Nikita Bier public announcement states that this feature allows users to directly tag specific tokens or smart contracts when sharing market or asset-related content. By clicking on the tags in their timeline, users can view the real-time price of the corresponding asset, as well as all related discussions within the platform. This feature is still in the testing and feedback phase, and the official team has clearly stated that they will roll it out. Version 1and provided a relatively clear release timeline (expected to launch next month).

This means that Smart Cashtags is no longer just a proof of concept, but has entered theThe final polishing stage before the product's features are finalized..

relevantTweetAnd Smart Cashtags Test Page

Initially, the community viewed it more as a market data tool that enhances user experience. However, as discussions deepened, the focus of doubts gradually shifted to several more fundamental issues:

— If the asset is not yet listed on major exchanges, does X have reliable data coverage?

-- Are its price and on-chain information dependent solely on centralized exchanges?

— Will the future further extend to the wallet or transaction execution layer?

Regarding the first two questions, Nikita Bier providedA relatively clear responseHe stated that the API used by X will "process almost anything minted on-chain in real time," implying that the data source for Smart Cashtags is not limited to centralized trading platforms, but instead has the capability to directly access on-chain information.

As for whether X supports self-hosted wallets or enables trading within the app via CEX widgets, he did not give a direct response, merely replying with an "eyes" emoji. This deliberate ambiguity has instead sparked more speculation within the community about X's next moves.

Putting Smart Cashtags back into X's existing strategic trajectory, this "white space" is not out of place.

By 2025, X had gradually obtained remittance-related licenses in over 40 U.S. states and was simultaneously advancing the compliance construction of the X Money payment system. At that time, these moves were largely seen as part of the "Everything App" narrative and still seemed distant from the content ecosystem.

As of January 2026, the development pace of Smart Cashtags began to become clearer: features were first publicly discussed, followed by detailed explanations of the API layer, with additional information about compliance and legal aspects emerging in between. By late January, although still in the testing phase, the official had already released a clear timeline expectation.

Odaily Planet Daily believes this further indicates that Smart Cashtags is not an isolated product attempt, but rather... X is proactively laying the infrastructure for the intersection of "Content × Finance.".

When viewed alongside adjustments such as creator incentive policies and the InfoFi API cleanup, its positioning becomes clear: X is not in a rush to directly intervene in transaction execution, but is instead attempting toAssets, Prices, and Market SentimentCompress into the same clickable and trackable content node.

Under this structure, the value of content is no longer simply determined by engagement metrics, but rather by its ability to form a continuous, consumable stream of information and narratives around a particular asset. In this sense, Smart Cashtags are not tools designed for "meme-chasing" or superficial engagement, but rather reserved entry points for specific types of content.

After the algorithm's "lid was lifted," the right to exposure has not become more democratic.

In addition to Smart Cashtags, another change that has been frequently mentioned recently on X isOfficial open source of the recommendation algorithm.

In late January, the X engineering team announced that they had made the latest version of their platform's algorithm publicly available, using the same Transformer architecture as the Grok model under xAI. Subsequently,Elon Musk FranklyThe algorithm is still "quite clumsy," but being open source means users can clearly see its optimization path. For a long time, content suppression and topic suppression have often been attributed to "black box algorithms." With algorithm transparency, at least the rules are no longer hidden, and the path can be traced.

X's latest publicly disclosed platform algorithm GitHub repositoryHome

However, open-sourcing an algorithm does not mean that the right to exposure is equally distributed.

Almost at the same time,X is advancing its "interest discovery" mechanism.is a systematic upgrade. The core goal is to help new accounts discover content they are interested in more quickly, without having to spend a long time selecting and following accounts. The algorithm now organizes the timeline based not just on "who you follow," but more on "what the system thinks you might want to see."

Under this framework, whether content receives exposure depends on two key criteria:UnderstandabilityandDisposable.

UnderstandabilityThe content structure is clear, the information is complete, and it is easy for algorithms to identify and classify.
DisposableThe content can be absorbed, understood, and interacted with by users in a short period of time, forming an effective information flow.

In other words, visibility is no longer determined by "engagement volume," but rather by whether the content can be efficiently identified, distributed, and attract audiences by the system. This marks a shift for the platform from the previous model of "the more active, the more visible" to a distribution logic centered on the intrinsic value of the content itself.

When the platform simultaneously tightens interaction incentives, structures asset narratives, and enhances interest-based recommendation mechanisms, a new filtering logic has already taken shape. Under this system, it is no surprise that "zhuilu" (a term implying superficial or low-quality content creation) is naturally excluded from the mainstream exposure pathways.

Conclusion: This is not just talk, but a revaluation of content's worth.

From tightening creator incentive policies and open-sourcing algorithms, to gradually advancing the Smart Cashtags feature, and on January 22nd, when the Meme section was separately established, X is gradually piecing together a clear path.

Low-value interactions are being stripped away, assets and emotions are being restructured, and algorithms and interest-discovery mechanisms are being brought to the forefront—these adjustments collectively point toward a core outcome:The platform is redefining what kind of content is worth being distributed, priced, and seen..

Under the new order, memes are categorized as emotional expressions, while financial and cryptocurrency content is required to have clear structure and direction. The right to exposure has shifted from "who is more active" to "who is easier to understand and consume." Platforms no longer pay for noise or mere participation.

As previously mentioned in an article by Odaily Planet Daily,"X Personally Ends the InfoFi Incentive Model, the Era of Lipstick Ends"As analyzed, the end of the "lip-bubbling" era is not the end, but rather...The First Perceptible Signal of Reconstructing the X Content Value SystemWith the new rules in place, the platform is building a value system that focuses more on the content itself rather than interactive behaviors.

For creators and the industry, this means that visibility on X in the future will no longer depend on quantity, but rather on whether the content can be recognized by algorithms, absorbed by the audience, and generate sustainable value. This new paradigm represents both a reclaiming of platform sovereignty and a profound reshaping of the content ecosystem.