Facebook and Instagram will pay $1 billion to creators through 2022 as an incentive to use the platforms, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.
“We want to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living, so we’re creating new programs to invest over $1 billion to reward creators for great content they create on Facebook and Instagram through 2022,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Investing in creators isn’t new for us, but I’m excited to expand this work over time.”
The program is invite-only but will allow creators to earn money by using certain features on Facebook or Instagram, such as by regularly livestreaming. There will also be bonus structures that encourage creators to sign up for IGTV ads, create Reels or use in-stream ads on Facebook.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has tried to lure creators over to its platforms by using money as an incentive. Last year, the company approached some of TikTok’s most popular creators and made them offers to use Instagram’s TikTok copycat, Reels, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The company also launched a Black Gaming Creator Program in December that will pay creators who use Facebook gaming a total of $10 million over the next two years as a way to lure gamers over from Twitch.
Facebook’s $1 billion pledge also falls in line with other creator funds handed out by other major social media platforms. When TikTok first introduced its creator fund last July, the company said it would start with a $200 million payout — a figure that soon increased to $1 billion for U.S. creators, to be paid out over three years.
YouTube, meanwhile, launched a $100 million fund in May for creators making Shorts videos, that will be paid out through 2022, while Snapchat has paid out $130 million to Spotlight creators as of that same month. Spotify unveiled its own fund for podcast and live audio creators last month, but the company has declined to share how much funding is available.
Source : Hollywood Reporter