Do Kenyans Earn Up To Ksh500M On X (Twitter) According To Ruto?

President William Ruto on Wednesday, August 23 opened up on talks he held with the world's top social media companies, including X (formerly known as Twitter), whose owner, Elon Musk, has been implementing strategies for Kenyan users to earn money from their content.

The Head of State was speaking in Nakuru County during the National Music Festival when he opened up on the lucrative opportunities Kenyans are taking advantage of in the online space to make money to sustain themselves.

Ruto disclosed that during the talks with Musk, the American billionaire agreed that X would open up content monetization to all manner of Kenyan creators including students who would be able to earn money from impressions and views generated by users whenever they view their published content on the platform. 

"Over the last year, I have held a number of discussions with owners of social media platforms, including Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube.

"I'm happy to report that Twitter (now known as X) has agreed that Kenya is among the first countries where creators can monetize their content," Ruto revealed.

Ruto On How X Pays Kenyan Users

According to Ruto, X offers ways users can make money from the microblogging platform through content creation, such as super follows which allows creators to charge their followers a monthly subscription fee for exclusive content and perks, such as early access to tweets, exclusive content, or the ability to send direct messages.

He also noted that through the monetization opportunities, Kenyans can earn money after meeting certain requirements such as having the required amount of followers as well as a certain level of engagement to monetize.

The Head of State opened up on the lucrative nature of the digital space, revealing that the country has managed to rake up to half a billion shillings monthly from the social media platforms such as X, TikTok and YouTube.

"People may be asking themselves, what is the quantum? Let me tell you that every month, Kenya is getting between Ksh300 million and Ksh500 million every month from these platforms.

"So we are increasing our revenues as a country from this space. We need to manage the negative effects, but we need to promote the positive effects that are making our artists, content creators and many other people in that space explore opportunities, make money and grow their talents," he went on.

Ruto further revisited the talks he held with Facebook in 2022, updating that the social media giant under Meta agreed to test with 25 Kenyan creators so that they can unlock the potential of monetizing content in the space, currently boasting close to three billion users worldwide.

Here Is The Truth

While Elon Musk launched the monetization feature on X in April 2023 during his ongoing restructuring of the social media platform, Kenyans only began accessing the feature in August 2023, which requires one to be subscribed to X Premium (Twitter Blue).

Musk introduced X's ad revenue-sharing program as part of his campaign to reward and encourage active users. Through this medium, both X and content creators on the platform will share returns on advertisements.

X calculates the revenue shared with each user based on impressions (the number of times a tweet is seen). When an advertisement appears in a content creator's reply, the number of impressions from verified accounts will determine how much the account is paid.

A person logged into X (formerly Twitter). /BBC

However, to qualify for X Ads Revenue Sharing, you must be at least 18 years old with at least 500 followers. You must be subscribed to X Premium (formerly known as Twitter Blue) or otherwise be a verified organization or affiliate. And you must also have at least five million organic impressions on all your posts each month, for the last three months. If you meet all these requirements, you can apply for the program and get approved to start earning.

While Viral Tea could not independently verify that X's (Twitter) monetization was a result of the Ruto-Musk talks, it is true that Kenyan creators with an X Premium subscription started earning from the platform.

X is no longer a mere subscription service, it’s now the gateway to monetization. To unlock this financial opportunity, subscribing to X Premium at Ksh1,500 per month is your first step.

X Premium subscribers from Kenya shared that they had received their monetization payments, and one of them, Khalif Kairo - a licensed pilot, shared on Friday, August 18 that he earned Ksh209,736.93.

Despite the good tidings that might come with monetizing tweets, some users feared that those subscribed to X Premium (with blue ticks) may take advantage of the feature to propagate controversial posts in a desperate attempt to amass thousands of views and impressions, including fake news.

That, coupled with Musk's plans to do away with the block button, could create a toxic atmosphere where blue-ticked users trigger an outbreak of outrageous takes with the goal of increasing internet traffic, online engagement, revenue and support, in an internet terminology and manipulative tactic known as rage farming.