X Testing Adult Community Groups Feature

Private Age-Verified Community Feature Would Allow NSFW Content

Despite shadowbans, search recommendation bans, blue checkmarks that do little for visibility, and the occasional account closure threat, the social network platform now known as X is known to allow users to post adult content. Thanks to some recently discovered screenshots found by Daniel Buchuk, an analyst at Watchful, we know that a little-used Twitter feature is being reworked and reintroduced to X. The Community feature allows users to create common-interest groups. Mashable reports that while these will continue to exist, any Community that includes content best viewed by those 18 and older will need to label itself as such. Violators will have their content deleted.

Communities first appeared on the platform in 2021, during the Twitter days. Essentially discussion groups, they provide a space for niche hobbyists, collectors, professionals, artists, and the like to focus on a mutual interest or topic. After a user becomes a member of the Community, they can see, respond, and initiate conversation. Communities can be open or private. Among the changes that Elon Musk’s X is expected to make, include a requirement that private Communities that contain “adult-sensitive content” to enable their “NSFW” or “adult-sensitive content” setting. Prospective members will also need to prove their ages before being allowed to join either kind of Community.

Buchuk analyzes app development and performance. His discovery is supported by that of Nima Owji, another researcher who found the same information about the in-development feature. Adding to the buzz was a post on X by Dong Wook Chung, a senior software engineer for the platform. He opined that new labels would be “about making communities safer for everyone.” Furthermore, he assured that “only users who have specified their age will be able to search communities with NSFW content.”

Before Musk took control of what was then Twitter, the company is believed to have considered ways to monetize explicit content and compete with OnlyFans. The crushing financial and practical responsibility involved in monitoring submissions to ensure nothing illegal slipped through was not appealing and so the idea was abandoned. Given the popularity of Twitter-turned-X with adult companies and performers, as well as their fans, if it chooses to restrict their ability to post porn and other racy content, it could run the risk of becoming the next Tumblr.

For those who don’t remember Tumblr, it is a microblogging and social media site that banned all adult content in 2018. Because the user base saw Tumblr as a destination location when in search of smut, the company reportedly lost 30-percent of its traffic in just a few months.

X does not currently allow advertisements for adult products or services, which means its ready availability makes the site no money. Likewise, while creators can post their content, they cannot monetize it via the platform, such as by performing in a live video. Even profile pictures are supposed to be family friendly-ish. By creating fan Communities, talent, opinion leaders, and social media influencers may be better able to interact directly with their audience.

Of course, as is so often the case with technology, there’s no knowing whether the requirement to label and age-verify for NSFW Communities will ever happen.