Facebook, Instagram Will Invest Over $1 Billion to Lure Content Creators and Compete Against TikTok, Snapchat

Facebook will spend $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,450 crores) on social media creators through the end of 2022 in a fight for top talent announced in a week when TikTok became the first rival mobile app to hit 3 billion global downloads.

Facebook's investments will include bonus programmes to pay creators who hit certain milestones on its apps, including photo-sharing service Instagram, and fund users to produce content, the company said.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also shared the news on his personal feed on the social media platform. He wrote, “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 (roughly Rs. 7,450 crores) to reward creators for great content they create on Facebook and Instagram through 2022. Investing in creators isn't new for us, but I'm excited to expand this work over time. More details soon.”

The social media giant is opening its wallet to woo creators with major fan followings from platforms like Alphabet's YouTube and short video app TikTok.

Multiple major tech platforms are on the offensive to attract and keep social media personalities with new payments and services.

TikTok has committed to spending $2 billion (roughly Rs. 14,890 crores) to support creators over three years. Snap's Snapchat used to pay creators a total of $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.4 crores) per day to post popular short-form videos on its service and says it still distributes millions per month to support creators through its Spotlight programme.

"With the 3 billion install milestone, TikTok is the fifth non-game app to join a tier that's historically been the exclusive domain of Facebook," said mobile insights firm Sensor Tower in a Tuesday report.

Facebook said its bonuses so far are by invitation only. On its main platform video creators and online gamers will receive a monthly bonus if they hit milestones like broadcasting a certain number of hours to earn Stars, a form of digital tipping that fans can use to pay their favorite creators during live-streamed videos.

Instagram's bonus programs will include incentives to use Reels, its copycat TikTok feature that showcases short-form video clips. Creators will earn money based on how their Reels videos perform, the company said.

© Thomson Reuters 2021