Elon Musk’s X has begun rolling out new features in user profiles that display information about the account, including where the account is based, how many times the account’s username has changed, when the account originally joined, and how the user downloaded the X app. This new information aims to reduce fraudulent engagement on platforms where bots often pose as humans. This problem could become even more difficult to police in the age of AI.
Company X’s plans for this feature were first announced in October, when Company X’s head of product Nikita Via said the company would experiment with displaying this information in profiles, starting with their own accounts and the accounts of X employees. The idea is that by exposing these details, users will be able to make more informed decisions about whether they are interacting with a genuine account, or whether the account is a bot or malicious person looking to sow discord or spread misinformation.
For example, if your X account profile claims you’re from a U.S. state, but your account information indicates you’re based overseas, you might suspect that you have other intentions.
Last weekend, Beer responded to a user’s post asking Elon Musk to require his account to display location information, asking him to “give me 72 hours.”
Since then, more people have had the “About This Account” feature available on their profiles.
To view your account information on the web or in the X Mobile App, click on the “Joined” date on your profile. From here, you will be taken to a page that displays the date you joined Twitter/X, where your account is based, how many times and when your username was last changed, and how you connected to X (for example, via the U.S. App Store or Google Play).
However, while some users around the world have reported seeing this feature appear on their profiles, TechCrunch is unable to access this account information on other people’s profiles at the time of writing. This may be because X wants to give users time to preview the accuracy of the information and adjust their settings before deploying it more broadly.
Specifically, X allows users to adjust whether this feature displays their country or only their geographic region. The company initially said this would be an option in regions where free speech penalties could be imposed, but it turns out that even US users can set their profiles to display their country or region/continent. (However, the country is the default.)
To make changes, go to the “About Account” settings in the “Privacy & Safety” settings in the X app.
A reverse engineer examined the app’s code (see below) and also discovered that X appears to be developing an additional feature that will alert your account if you are using a VPN to mask your location. It’s unclear when this feature will roll out, but when it does, it will alert others that your country or region may not be accurate.
Company X did not respond to a request for comment on this development. However, Beer joked about all of the recent sightings, suggesting that people were watching the feature as it began to roll out.
X is not the first social network to offer this level of transparency to its users. For example, Instagram has long offered a similar “About this account” feature.
