X (formerly Twitter) has officially started rolling out a new profile tool called “About This Account”, giving more context to users about who they’re interacting with. This feature aims to boost trust and authenticity on the platform by revealing key account details — making it easier to spot bots, suspicious activity, or simply understand who’s behind each profile.
Here’s a full breakdown: what the feature shows, how to use it, why X is doing it now, and what potential risks or criticisms exist.
What Is the “About This Account” Feature?
Key Account Details Now Visible
With the new feature, certain profile metrics are becoming public (or semi-public) in a dedicated section. According to X:
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Join Date: Users can tap on the “Joined” date on a profile to open the About This Account page.
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Account Origin: It displays where the account is based, though users can choose whether to show their country or just their broader region or continent.
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Username History: The tool shows how many times the account has changed its username, and when the last change occurred.
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App Source: It reveals how the account was created or linked to X — such as whether the user installed the app from Google Play, the App Store, or via the web.
Why X Is Doing This: The Motivation Behind the Feature
Fighting Inauthentic Engagement
X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, said the feature is part of a broader push to improve trust on the platform. With bots, fake accounts, and AI-generated impersonators proliferating, providing context about accounts helps users make more informed decisions.
By exposing data like location and username changes, X hopes users can better detect suspicious profiles. For instance: if someone claims to be based in the U.S., but their account metadata shows a different country, that could raise a red flag.
Incremental Rollout & Feedback Loop
The feature was first tested on internal and employee accounts before expanding. X is giving users early access so they can review their own data, make updates, and adjust privacy settings before the information becomes visible more widely.
How to Use It and Control What Shows Up
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Accessing the Feature
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On both web and the mobile app, tap on your profile’s “Joined” date. That reveals the About This Account section where your metadata lives.
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Privacy Settings
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Go to Privacy & Safety in your X settings → About your account. There, you can decide whether to display your full country or a broader region.
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If you don’t want detailed location data shown, there is an option to opt for region-only visibility.
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Preview Before Public Display
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The phased rollout appears to give users a “preview window” to check their account info before letting it be fully public. This helps people correct any oddities or make decisions about what they want others to see.
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Additional Transparency — VPN Detection Coming?
One intriguing aspect: code scientists have spotted hints that X may soon warn viewers if a user seems to be using a VPN or proxy. According to the code, a message like “country or region may not be accurate” could appear on profiles if proxy usage is detected.
This would provide another layer of context — especially valuable in spotting accounts that might obscure their true geographic origin. However, as of now, it’s not clear when (or if) that feature will go live.
Benefits of the Feature — Why It Matters
Build Trust Between Users
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More background on profiles helps establish credibility. When you know where an account is based, when it was started, and how it has evolved, it’s easier to weigh whether its content is genuine.
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This transparency can reduce influence operations and make it harder for bad actors to operate unnoticed.
Strengthen Platform Integrity
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With more public metadata, X can fight against coordinated misinformation or bot attacks more effectively.
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Users can self-audit: if something seems off in someone’s profile, they now have direct signals (like location mismatches or frequent username changes).
Aligns with Broader Transparency Trends
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Other platforms already offer similar tools: Instagram, for instance, provides profile context like account age, location, and name changes.
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X’s move reflects the evolving digital landscape, where platforms are being pressured to be more open about identity and authenticity.
Risks, Concerns & Criticisms
Privacy Trade-Offs
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Location Disclosure: Some users may not want to publicly disclose their country or region. While region-only is possible, not everyone will choose or feel comfortable with that.
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VPN Warning: If the VPN-detection feature goes live, it could inadvertently expose users who rely on VPNs for privacy, safety, or protection.
Incomplete Rollout
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As of now, not all users see the feature on others’ profiles.
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The gradual deployment could create an uneven experience — some users will have full visibility, others less so, raising questions about the criteria for inclusion.
Misinterpretation Risk
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Some people may misread the metadata. For example, changing a username multiple times could be a benign decision, not a sign of untrustworthiness.
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Displaying install source (“App Store” vs “Play Store”) could mislead users about authenticity; there are many legitimate non-malicious reasons for how someone first logged in.
Implementation Limits
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This isn’t a full identity verification system. Users can still lie in their bio or tweets — the feature just adds context, not guarantees.
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Without strong moderation or fact-checking, signals alone aren’t enough; they must be paired with effective tools to handle inauthentic actors.
Comparison with Other Platforms
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Instagram: Already allows users to see similar metadata on public accounts — like “About This Profile” to view account age, name changes, and more.
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X’s Past Approach: In 2024, X experimented with another transparency tool — a Grok-powered “More About This Account” summary. That version used AI to generate a short bio of users, but it received mixed feedback for accuracy and usefulness.
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Bot Labels: X also has automated account labels to denote bot-like activity. This new feature adds another layer — contextual information — rather than simply labeling an account as automated.
What This Means for X's Future
Strengthening Trust in a Post-Bot Era
As AI and automation make it easier to create very convincing fake accounts, features like About This Account help X fight back. Giving users “signals” about profile authenticity might build more meaningful trust and reduce bad actor influence.
Encouraging Responsible Use
By making some metadata mandatory or opt-out, X nudges users toward greater transparency. Over time, it could normalize sharing contextual account info as a default trust signal.
Evolving Moderation Tools
This is part of a broader trend on X: beyond labeling or removing bad actors, the platform is building tools that help users themselves make better judgments — seeing more than just the bio and avatar.
Potential Privacy Evolution
How X handles region vs. country, VPN detection, and user control over display will determine whether this is perceived as a genuine transparency feature — or an overreach. The balance could shape how social platforms design “identity context” in the future.
X’s “About This Account” rollout marks a significant moment in its effort to increase profile transparency and reduce manipulation. By exposing metadata such as join date, location, username changes, and app source, the platform gives users more tools to evaluate authenticity.
While the feature is not yet universally available, and some privacy trade-offs exist, it reflects a meaningful push toward greater accountability on social media. As X continues to refine and expand this tool, it may set a new standard for how public-facing information supports trust — both for individuals and the platform as a whole.
