What’s happened? X has recently added a “Based in” field that allows you to view the location of someone’s profile. Following that, RhysSullivan, an independent developer, has created a Chrome extension that takes those profile tags and shows them as tiny national flags directly in the feed, so there’s no need to open a profile to see an account’s country. The extension does this by calling X’s own API endpoints from the browser context while you’re logged in.
- The extension identifies usernames on a feed page, then calls X’s
GraphQL AboutAccountQueryto request theaccount_based_in field. - Because the extension runs inside the browser, it uses your logged-in cookies and makes same-origin requests.
- The flags are mapped from the account’s location string to an emoji and injected beside the username.
- The extension caches responses locally to avoid repeated API calls and reduce load.
Why this is important: This is a practical step up from X’s profile-only labels. Instead of tapping through to every profile, readers receive immediate geographic context while scrolling, which can help evaluate credibility, spot unusual patterns in viral threads, or quickly identify where conversation participants are based. It also shows how platform APIs can be used to build helpful browser tools, for better or worse.
- Feed-level flags save time and add instant context to global conversations.
- The approach demonstrates how browser extensions can enhance the UX without requiring platform changes.
- Because it uses the platform’s own API, it’s more reliable than scraping and less likely to break from minor page HTML changes.
Why should I care? If you read news, politics, or global threads on X, this changes your first impression of posts: you’ll see where a poster is “based in” without leaving the timeline, and that context can change how much trust or attention you give a post. That’s handy for spotting foreign-based accounts in local debates or for quickly understanding the mix of voices on hot topics.
At the same time, it raises practical trade-offs. The extension needs you to be logged into X, and only works on desktop browsers. Add to that, there are also safety and privacy angles, as activists, journalists, or travellers may not want extra location signals surfaced in the feed. What’s more, the extension’s local use of cookies means the feature depends on trusting the extension code running in your browser.
Okay, so what’s next? If you like the idea, try the extension’s repo yourself (or wait for a packaged release) and check the source before enabling it. If you’d rather not have flags appear, monitor X’s settings for any official feed-level controls or simply avoid extensions that inject UI. Platforms may respond: if this proves popular or controversial, X could add an official feed option or tighten API exposure. Either way, this small UX tweak could nudge how people interpret posts across global conversations.
