X's Bot Problem Is Bigger Than You Think

Scroll through your feed on X (formerly Twitter), and you’ll spot it within seconds. An account with a random handle, a stolen display picture, and an uncanny obsession with quote-retweeting trending posts with one-liners like "so real" or "this."

Now here’s the thing. These aren’t just bored teenagers. They’re engagement farmers. Some are bots, some are real people playing the algorithm like a flute. And guess what? They win. They get reach. They get likes. They trend. And that’s where the problem begins.

But let’s not just complain. Let’s go deeper. Why is it happening? And more importantly, what can X really do to fix this without killing the vibe of the platform?

Tackling Engagement Farming on X Means Fixing the Algorithm First

Here’s where it all starts. The algorithm.

It’s addicted to engagement. Doesn’t matter if the post is thoughtful or mindless. If people interact, it flies. That’s why you’ll see an insightful post with 2 likes, and a “bruh this” tweet with 100K.

So here’s a crazy idea. Change what the algorithm values. Not impressions. Not raw likes. But quality of conversation.

Imagine this: A post that sparks replies longer than 5 words, or attracts verified profiles to comment something meaningful, gets a boost. Instead of boosting someone just because they got 1,000 likes from bot accounts in 2 hours.

Let X quietly measure originality. Is this user adding new context to a topic? Are they just riding trends or contributing something fresh? If they’re just repeating the same thing 10 times with different words, that should matter.

We don’t need to punish anyone. We just need to make it boring for bots and dull for lazy farming. And once the game changes, the players will change too.

Identity Verification Isn’t Just a Badge. It’s a Filter

Let’s be honest. X’s identity system is half-baked.

Right now, blue ticks are for sale. You pay, you get. And that’s fine, business is business. But if you want to reduce bot behavior, you need to go beyond paid ticks.

Introduce soft verification. Let regular users opt in to a basic identity check. Maybe an OTP, maybe some background behavior scan. Then flag accounts that refuse to do this but post 50 times a day.

Let’s say an account tweets every 10 minutes, 24/7. That’s not just suspicious. That’s not human.

X can build a credibility score behind the scenes. It doesn’t have to be public. But it should influence what gets promoted. An account with 50K followers, but with 90% bot engagement? Downrank it. Quietly. No drama. Just make it harder for low-effort spam to climb.

Even better, make bot detection AI-native. Study patterns. Study language. Look for inconsistency. Because bots might be evolving, but they still mess up. Same sentence structure. Same engagement pattern. Humans are chaotic. That’s their edge.

Use that chaos as a benchmark.

Engagement Farming Dies in the Face of Transparency

Here’s a wild suggestion. Show people their real impact.

Not just numbers. But what those numbers mean.

Imagine if X told you, "Hey, 70% of your engagement came from accounts that post 300 times a day." That changes the perception, right? Suddenly you know that viral tweet was hollow. Empty calories.

Instead of chasing numbers, people might start chasing substance. Because when you know your audience is real, it feels better. And when you know it’s bots, the high fades real quick.

Also, bring in a feedback loop. Let verified users rate replies. Was this helpful? Was it spam? Was it a copy-paste job from another tweet?

It doesn’t need to be public. But if you want to make engagement farming uncool, you need to make originality visible. Because right now, being loud wins. Being useful doesn’t.

Flip that.

X Needs to Make Being Human Profitable Again

Let’s not sugarcoat it. This is going to be hard.

Bots aren’t going anywhere. Engagement farming isn’t either. But X can choose what it promotes. What it prioritizes. And what it quietly suppresses.

Make it cool to be real. Reward people for being unpredictable, nuanced, thoughtful. Because bots can’t do that. They never could.

And if the algorithm starts favoring humans over patterns, the entire culture of X will shift.

We don’t need to ban engagement farmers. We just need to make their methods useless.

You fix the system, the symptoms take care of themselves.

That’s the X we should aim for. A place where creativity goes viral. Not bots.