Zimbabwean X in Uproar After New Feature Shows Account Locations

X, the platform many of us still instinctively call Twitter, has rolled out a new feature that is already causing waves across the timeline. It’s called “About This Account,” and it introduces a layer of transparency that most users did not expect. When you tap on a profile’s “Joined” date, a small panel now appears showing details such as the account creation date, username history, and more significantly, the current region or country where the account is based.

For years, location on X was something users controlled manually. Some chose to share it; many preferred to keep it private. This feature changes that completely. X now displays where an account is operating from, using information drawn from the account’s recent activity, device signals, app usage and other platform-level indicators. In other words, the platform is not telling users where an account was created. It is telling them where the account is currently based.

The intention behind this update is simple. X wants people to have more context about the profiles they interact with. The platform has been dealing with issues around impersonation and anonymous voices for a long time, so a feature that gives users clearer insight into who is behind an account feels, from X’s side, like a step toward more openness.

But once the feature went live, the reaction was anything but calm.

Zimbabwean timelines lit up almost instantly as users began checking the accounts they follow daily. What they discovered turned the feature from a quiet update into a major conversation. Some profiles that had always tweeted as if they were living in Zimbabwe were now showing regions far outside the country. Accounts that spoke about Zimbabwean prices, kombis, weather, neighbourhood life and everyday realities were suddenly labelled as being based in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Europe, the United States, Dubai and other places around the world.

This sparked confusion and amusement in equal measure. Followers found themselves re-evaluating accounts they had assumed were posting from Harare, Bulawayo or Mutare. The surprise did not come from politics or controversy but from the sudden realisation that voices which felt local were actually being run from thousands of kilometres away.

Importantly, many of these users were not trying to deceive anyone. A lot of Zimbabweans living abroad stay deeply connected to home and naturally comment on local life because they still understand it, still care about it and still follow it closely. Others simply preferred not to tie their physical location to their online presence. And many just didn’t think the detail mattered as long as they contributed meaningfully to the conversation.

However, the moment X began showing where accounts are based, that privacy vanished. Some users logged in only to find that a part of their identity they had chosen not to reveal was now displayed at the top of their profile. It led to awkward reactions. A few accounts immediately locked themselves. Others took a break from tweeting, sensing that their followers now viewed them differently. Some scrolled back through their old posts and removed anything they felt was now out of place.

The uproar is rooted in something very human. Online communities build assumptions. When someone comments daily about local life, people naturally imagine them within that environment. The new feature has broken those assumptions in a matter of seconds, leaving users to process this new layer of truth about the voices on their timelines.

X has indicated that users may eventually get more control over how specific or broad their displayed region is, but that flexibility has not rolled out consistently. For now, many people are unable to adjust what is shown on their profiles.

The conversation continues to evolve. Some users are laughing about it, treating it like an unexpected border control. Others feel exposed and uncomfortable. And a number of people are simply observing how quickly a single update can change perceptions within an online community.

What is clear is that this small transparency feature has sparked one of the biggest reactions in recent months. It has revealed how global the Zimbabwean X community truly is and how much impact a simple line that says where an account is based can have on the way people read, trust and relate to each other online.