As artificial intelligence makes it easier to create bots that act more human-like, X is developing a new feature to expose more information about the users behind a profile. This effort is designed to help people better understand who they are talking to on the platform.
According to a post by X’s head of product Nikita Bier, the social network will begin experimenting with displaying more details on user profiles. This information will include the date the account was created, its location, the number of username changes it has undergone, and how it is using the X service.
The idea is that by exposing these details, users can make a more informed decision about whether an account is authentic or if it is possibly a bot or bad actor attempting to spread misinformation. For example, if an account’s bio claims it is based in a U.S. state but the account information shows it is based overseas, you may suspect the account has another agenda.
Similarly, if the information shows the account downloaded the X app from an international app store but the user pretends to be from the U.S., you may also question their legitimacy. This is not to say that someone could not have started an account elsewhere and then relocated, but it is a signal that could be combined with others, like multiple username changes, to raise red flags.
Bier said that X will begin testing the feature first on some employee profiles next week to get feedback before a broader rollout. He also noted that users would be able to opt out of having this information displayed. However, he pointed out that if a user configures the privacy toggles, that action will likely be highlighted on their profile.
He addressed concerns about exposing people’s location, especially in areas where speech could have penalties, by stating that X may substitute a region for a country in those cases.
The concept of displaying more account information to help users understand who they are engaging with is not new. In a recent interview, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that users on that app can already visit a profile and see a similar set of information, such as how long the profile has existed, what country the user is based in, and how many times the username has been changed. He noted that Instagram may do more to provide additional context in the future.
The changes on X, if they roll out publicly, could help address trust issues to some extent, though scammers and spammers often find effective ways to work around attempts at exposure. This news follows a recent bot purge on X, where the company removed 1.7 million bots that were engaging in reply spam.