Written by: MAD Vincent
Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News
I did exactly what they said: frantically spammed comments, closely followed top accounts to ride on their traffic, and jumped on every trending topic, chasing impressions like chips in a bull market.
After 29 million impressions, the X platform paid me $71.49.
This is a warning. As of 2025, those still chasing impressions on the X platform are neither seizing the initiative nor working hard—they are merely the exit liquidity for bot traffic.
The Lie Everyone Believes
At some point, the crypto community (CT) reached a consensus: "The higher the impressions, the more money you make." This was half-true in the past. But by 2025, it has become a complete fallacy.
Today, impressions are nothing but a vanity metric: they look glamorous and addictive but are utterly useless for actual earnings. They can make your data panel as beautiful as a bull market chart, but the corresponding bank deposit is pitifully small, akin to a forgotten small wallet.
I learned this lesson the hard way.
My Personal Experiment (A.K.A. How I Got Rugged)
In mid-December 2025, I launched this aggressive traffic experiment: posting over 200 comments daily, specifically targeting top accounts' posts to蹭热度 (ride on their popularity), without limiting myself to any vertical, aiming for an all-out "indiscriminate bombardment."
Movies, gaming, politics, cryptocurrency, memes, sports... as long as it was a hot topic, I jumped in to comment.
Soon, my actions echoed across the platform: "Bro, I see you everywhere," "The algorithm must love you," "This data is explosive growth."
Now, let's look at the specific results: 28.9 million impressions, 267.7k engagements, 119.5k likes, 11.8k comments, 3.1k bookmarks, 20k profile visits, 37.5k followers, with verified users accounting for about 41%.
On average, I only posted 4 original pieces of content per day, with the rest of the traffic全靠 "comment section蹭热度 (riding on popularity)." Looking solely at the data panel, it was a crushing advantage. But when payday came, the deposit was only $71.49.
It was then that I fully understood: impressions don't make money; high-quality interactions from paying users are what matter.
The monetization logic of the X platform has long changed. It no longer rewards exposure but rather who interacts with you.
If your engagement data doesn't come from paying verified users, it's no different from having no engagement at all.
The Real Rules of X Platform Monetization in 2025
There's no mystery behind this; it's just that many are unwilling to accept reality. The real monetization rules are as follows.
Only engagement types from paying verified users count towards monetization: comments, reposts, bookmarks, likes, and the engagement must occur within monetizable reply posts.
Some engagement types are无效 for monetization: free user engagement, bot traffic, skyrocketing impressions without paying user participation, "fake viral" posts without paying user engagement.
One comment from a paying verified user might be worth far more than 100 bot likes.
Additionally, engagement has varying weights; not all are equal. Comments and reposts carry the highest weight, followed by bookmarks, with likes being the lowest.
So, if your engagement data shows the following characteristics: many likes, few comments, low verified user ratio—then your account may look popular but has no monetization value.
The Unmentioned Bot Traffic Trap
Riding on the popularity of top accounts' comment sections seems like a shortcut to gaining followers, but it's actually a distribution engine for bot traffic.
Here's what really happens: your comment gets pushed to a bot network → impressions skyrocket → engagement data appears healthy → at settlement, the platform filters out all invalid traffic.
This is why the absurd result of "29 million impressions, only $71 earned" occurs. This isn't a system glitch; it's the precise execution of platform rules.
This Playstyle Is Ruining Your Account
This is not only an extremely low ROI practice but also causes irreversible damage to your account.
Bot Follower Pollution
In just a few days, my account gained over 2500 bot followers. These bots lower:
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The account's verified user ratio
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The platform's trust rating for you
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Future settlement amounts
Audience Dilution
Your followers are no longer a targeted audience but have become worthless "noise." The platform understands this, advertisers understand this, and ultimately, your earnings will reflect this directly.
Algorithmic Downgrade Penalty
Posting 200+ comments daily →极易触发限流 (easily triggers rate-limiting). Content lacks vertical focus →无法向算法传递清晰的账号标签 (unable to convey clear account labels to the algorithm). Ultimately, your account will be flagged by the algorithm as a "suspected spam account."
Creator Burnout
You think you're dominating the platform's hot list, but then the bank deposit notification hits you like a ton of bricks. Most creators give up at this very moment.
What I Did
I completely overturned my previous strategy: cleaned up 2500 bot followers, removed 5000 zombie followers, stopped the comment-section popularity riding, and focused on building a genuine follower community.
In the short term, account metrics确实下滑了 (did decline), but the long-term health of the account is recovering.
In the next settlement cycle, my account data showed new characteristics: lower impressions, higher quality engagement (check the engagement rate percentage), more precise follower growth, and significantly reduced creative pressure.
The Core Metrics Actually Worth Focusing On
If you want to make money on the X platform, aim for the following goals:
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3%-5% engagement rate
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High-engagement posts dominated by comments
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45%-50% verified user ratio
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Consistent output of original content
Having fewer impressions is okay; having high-quality user interaction is key. Achieve these, and you'll go from "Why are my earnings so terrible?" to "So this is how you achieve stable monetization."
The Final Truth
Impressions are like the siren's song: they make you think you've seized the initiative, make you feel like you're the platform's focus, and give you an illusion of "importance."
But they don't bring a single cent of profit. What monetizes is high-quality interaction from paying users. In 2025, the X platform will not reward "traffic speculators"; it will only reward "content builders."
