X adds video editing tools to boost original content

X is introducing new video editing and recording features to encourage original content creation on its platform. The update includes tools to overlay video captions in multiple languages and customize their appearance. It also introduces green-screen tools—a video editing feature allowing background replacement—which work with photos from a user’s camera roll or other posts on X. The video editor is initially available only on the iOS app, as the Android app is currently being rebuilt.

The social media platform is launching these features to reduce the prevalence of stolen, recycled material. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, stated, “One of our biggest priorities is to give creators the tools to create original content [and] reward those creators.” Bier explained that the goal is to provide a functional video editor so that videos on X can finally consist of original content that does not exist on other platforms. He added that more updates are coming to the video editor in the coming weeks. According to Bier, many posts contain stolen material, sometimes five years after the content originally went viral. He noted that recycled content has a negative impact on the user experience and the business. The update comes as posts containing videos make up close to half of the impressions on the social network.

The launch comes as X, the social network that can’t seem to win its perennial battle with bots, continues to struggle with overwhelming populations of bots and spam. In April, Bier stated that X was identifying and suspending 208 bots per minute, a figure he noted was growing, to illustrate the scale of the issue. Prior to that, he noted that half of the product team was focused on developing features to mitigate spam. X is not the only social network plagued by growing amounts of spam; Reddit has implemented AI tools to address the issue, while defunct competitor Digg shut down its app after failing to manage overwhelming spam.

Why it matters

X is introducing new video editing tools to encourage original content creation and combat the prevalence of stolen, recycled material on its platform. However, the platform still faces challenges in incentivizing creators to post exclusively on X rather than on established competitors like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube.