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In a social landscape increasingly fraught with bots, misinformation and anonymous manipulation, X is turning on the lights.
The platform announced earlier this year that it would begin displaying more profile information, such as account creation date, location signals and username-change history, to give users a clearer view of who they’re interacting with, according to TechCrunch.
Late last week, X began, on a limited basis, displaying the countries in which its users are located. Although the feature was not visible to all users, some reported that they could open an account’s bio and click on its ‘joined’ date to view the country associated with the account.
With advances in AI and automated accounts, social platforms face a growing problem: how to help users assess whether the profile on the other end is genuine. As X states, “When you read content on X, you should be able to verify its authenticity.”
The new profile metadata is meant to close that gap by surfacing signals that might previously have been hidden.
According to product lead Nikita Bier’s post, X is in the process of experimenting with new profile disclosures, including:
The country (or region) associated with an account, derived from signals like IP address, app-store region and posting behaviour.
The date the account was created, how many username changes it has undergone, and other transparency markers. Importantly, users will be able to opt out, but the opt-out itself will be flagged as a signal (“profile is hidden”).
X’s timing is rooted in the convergence of two trends: one, machine-driven accounts (bots) are increasingly sophisticated, making it harder for everyday users to distinguish real from fake. Two, platforms are under growing scrutiny for when anonymous or misidentified accounts foment disinformation or manipulation.
The new profile disclosures are a proactive step to offer “transparency by default” rather than retroactive moderation alone.
While the move is laudable, several challenges remain. For one, determined bad actors might still mask their signals or use legitimate accounts for misuse.
Second, there are privacy concerns: exposing the region or location could put certain users at risk, especially in jurisdictions where speech is penalised.
X addressed this by allowing region-level rather than country-level labels in sensitive cases.
Third, the signal-overload risk: adding more metadata might lead to user fatigue or misinterpretation
As social media continues to evolve, authenticity has emerged as the new battleground.
It seems X’s decision to surface profile metadata is a good step toward granting users more visibility into the identity behind the handle. Whether it ultimately shifts behaviour, or simply adds a veneer of transparency, is yet to be determined.
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