I’ve written two PHONE TIME newsletters about “original content” so far.
At the end of last month, Instagram announced it was updating its “original content guidelines.”
“The same protections we introduced to reels [in 2024] are now expanding to photos and carousels,” Instagram described in a post. “This means accounts that primarily re-upload others’ work without adding meaningful creative input will no longer be eligible for recommendations across Instagram.”
X has also followed in Instagram’s footsteps. Its previous Revenue Sharing program has ended, and the platform has shifted to “Original Content Rewards,” initially announced last month.
Since I hadn’t written about the new program in August, I wanted to share my thoughts now. Specifically, I’m interested in how X defines “original content,” especially in contrast to Instagram. The announcement for the program has a section called “Original content 101,” which I’ll be looking at here. This might seem a little in the weeds, but there’s a lot to be found in platforms’ content guidelines. As I have in my past posts, I’ll analyze the guidelines based on two domains I work in: journalism and meme making (I’ve linked it before, but I explained a lot of my thoughts in this interview.)
But before you read on, I want to say that you should vote in the 2026 Tiny Awards, which is a celebration of the “best of the small, poetic, creative, handmade web.“ Voting closes September 25. I was part of the 2026 selection committee and loved looking through all the website nominations; my hope for the future of the web is once again restored.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” the post describes. “It can be a thread you wrote, a video you filmed, a meme you created, a story you broke, an analysis you published, or commentary that adds a unique perspective to the conversation.”
Off the bat—and this is my journalist side speaking—what stands out to me is the mention of “reporting” multiple times (alternatively, “break news”). It makes sense that X would explicitly mention reporting, given the platform’s longstanding status as the cornerstone app for journalists to share their work and network, especially during Twitter days but still post-Elon. It’s also become the place for news aggregation, notably through Pop Base and Pop Crave and more recently, Polymarket and Kalshi. Headquarters, which was formerly Kamala HQ, the rapid response page for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, has fully embraced news aggregation (I’d add that I was surprised by just how infrequently the Substack newsletter links out to other sources, but that’s another conversation and one I’ve also touched on) and often posts multiple news updates per day.
In contrast to X, Instagram’s original content policy notably doesn’t specifically mention reporting or news content, although it does mention a “sports Instagram account adding details about a player's performance to a clip” as an example of materially edited content. I’d describe this example as commentary or analysis.
Direct commentary (such as through quote tweets) has long been a distinctive feature of X/Twitter more than other social platforms (although this is changing, for example, as Instagram Reels has enabled discussions through video). X describes it as such: “Commentary is at the heart of X. Reacting to, analyzing, explaining, and building on what’s happening in the world is one of the things that makes the platform unique.”
The post explains that commentary (along with “analysis, reactions, memes, and creative interpretations”) can count as original content, adding that starting from other posts is fine as long as you add value of your own.
Obviously the question here is what specifically counts as value. “Adding post captions or text overlays that simply describe what is already happening” and “Adding summaries that are purely descriptive, are irrelevant, and/or add minimal value” to reuploaded videos does not count. The obvious examples of copied content stand out, but it gets tricky fast. What if someone is reuploading and describing a video taken years ago, instead of one concurrently gaining traction? How about “curation” accounts that source images from archives or other, non-X sources? What about independent journalists that both aggregate other sources and do their own original reporting?
Now, onto memes. As I explained in my last post on the topic, Instagram specifically detailed how the definition of “original content” applies to memes. X mentions “Memes, graphics, illustrations, and other creative work you designed” as a listed example of original content. I think the linking of memes with these other forms, as well as the word “designs,” sidesteps the issue that memes tend to build on existing images and templates, often changing only a few words. The fact that the meme format on X usually operates as image + caption text as opposed to everything within the same image post, as it does on Instagram, groups the “meme” more into X’s description of commentary. But it’s not clear to me how X would distinguish originality between iterations of posts that are solely images. The guidelines do say that “Minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments, or simple text overlays generally do not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.” What if the cropping or filters are themselves the creative intention? What counts as a “simple” text overlay?
All of these questions may seem persnickety. But because they pertain to how people build followings, monetize their audiences, and ultimately leverage that influence to other ends, I think they’re worth asking!
I might add: neither Instagram’s or X’s original content guidelines mention AI.
TikTok’s originality policy, last updated Dec. 23, 2025, describes that “if you’re repurposing content from multiple sources, you need to add additional information or content value, like creative edits and/or appearing in the content yourself.” I’d nitpick over that last point. If your content features writing (say, an article or poem) by someone else, does reading it aloud make it fit the definition of originality? What if you do a dramatic reading?
TikTok’s policy also specifically describes editing as a way that content can be “uniquely yours”:
“Reconstruct your material with extra editing that showcases the plot or narrative in a new light. Rearrange clips, insert your original opinions, and use your editing skills to highlight important information to ensure that the content you create is unique.”
At the same time, the policy also states that you should avoid “inserting random, unrelated elements with no purpose.” While I was speaking with a few Instagram creators for my part two, Caitlin Morgan, who runs the Unravelling Substack and an accompanying Instagram page, both of which she also makes distinct memes and visual elements for, made a really interesting point. She pointed out that Instagram’s emphasis on putting your own spin on content, or remixing (what Instagram calls “materially editing”) rather than simply reposting, might encourage someone to, for example, layer a lot of elements onto a screenshot of a tweet, like rainbow edits or reaction videos in the corner. She described this as a possible return to the “trollface era,” which I thought was a great way to put it.
I’ve seen a lot of conversation recently about how everyone’s Instagram looks the same. You might know the look: polka dot capris, butter yellow font, teal accents, describing things as “whimsical” and “kinda chic.” At the risk of using the classic trend story “of course, this isn’t new” transition, things looking the same on Instagram isn’t a new development. Primarily active during 2020, the Instagram account “shitbloggerspost” documented influencer photographs that mimicked each other, often using the same posing, outfits, and background.
Speaking of “everyone is doing xyz”:
Another account, insta_repeat, run by Emma Sheffer, began posting collections of extremely similar photos taken at travel destinations like Iceland and Alaska in 2018.
But as more recent updates, like the change to a 4:5 grid and in-app editing and text tools, have enabled users to add more elements to an Instagram post (graphics, memes, stylistic text, etc.), I think it has become easier to follow trends or even intentionally copy. No longer do you have to travel to the same destination or shop at the same fancy grocery store (although I do think that nice lighting, a big apartment to shoot vlogs in, and fancy clothing and book hauls still play a big part in what content becomes popular). The other factor is how increasingly key content creation has been to building brands across creative fields and industries. Memetic templates and visual elements can be used to translate written work and complex topics into engaging, accessible formats.
But memetic formats can also take on a more promotional element, even if they lack substance. (I talked about brand memes in a recent post about process.) Morgan contrasted memes that add texture and world-building to those that are simply intended to be vehicles for sales and bookings.
Substack doesn’t have specific originality guidelines, though it does have guidelines on copyright and intellectual property, as well as guidelines about what to do if your “Substack work is being plagiarized on another platform.” Plagiarism has, of course, been a problem on the platform itself. While consensus about what counts as copying is generally established for longform writing (although generative AI has made this fuzzier; see both the Pangram integration and the reaction to it), short-form posts, memes, and video introduce questions. So I’d guess we’ll see more conversations on this topic as Substack creators continue to lean into Substack notes and video posts.
⚠️INSTAGRAM GRID UPDATE ⚠️
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that starting today, you can add photos you are tagged in to your profile grid. It’s yet another change I find confusing, especially considering collaborative posts already exist. In June, Instagram announced it was enabling users to reorder their grids. I called the plethora of new features, including Instants and Instagram Plus, “feature alphabet soup,” or “attempts to try and solve problems that Instagram’s own platform changes caused in the first place.”
