Facebook plans to pay $1bn to creators throughout 2022

Last month, the California-based company said it would not take a cut of creators’ revenue until 2023

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company wants to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living. AFP

Facebook plans to pay out $1 billion by the end of next year to creators for the content they produce on Facebook and Instagram, the company announced on Wednesday.

The money will be paid to creators for achieving “certain milestones” and for the ads running on their videos on these platforms.

Besides providing seed funding for new creators to encourage them to produce engaging content, Facebook will also offer bonus programmes that pay eligible creators when they use the company’s monetisation tools, it added.

“We want to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living, so we're creating new programmes to invest over $1bn to reward creators for great content they create on Facebook and Instagram through 2022,” Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s founder and chief executive, wrote on his Facebook wall.

“Investing in creators isn't new for us, but I am excited to expand this work over time,” he added.

Last month, taking a swipe at Apple, Facebook said it would not take a cut of creators’ revenue until 2023.

“To help more creators make a living on our platforms, we're going to keep paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges and our coming independent news products free for creators until 2023. And when we do introduce a revenue share, it will be less than the 30 per cent that Apple and others take,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

Facebook has built various creative tools — like Live Audio Rooms and Bulletin — and monetisation products like Stars and Affiliate to help original content creators.

Its new bonus programmes will reward a wide variety of creators for sharing content that people enjoy. They will also help creators understand which content performs best for them.

“Our goal is to help as many creators as possible find sustainable, long-term success on our apps,” the company said in a statement.

“Bonus programmes will be seasonal, evolving and expanding over time.”

While some bonus programmes are already available to select creators by invitation, such as Badges and Stars Challenges, the company will also launch a dedicated place for bonuses within the Instagram and Facebook apps where creators can learn about those available to them.

Industry experts said it is one way the California-based firm aims to attract more users and influencers to produce content for its platforms as it contends with other popular services such as Google’s Shorts, ByteDance’s TikTok and Snapchat’s Spotlight.

In May, Alphabet-owned Google started the $100 million YouTube Shorts Fund to attract more users and reward them for their contributions. It said funds will be distributed over the course of 2021-2022 to Shorts users, whose content will go viral.

Facebook said it wants to be transparent as it develops its bonus programmes so “it’s clear to creators where and how they can earn”.

“To do so, we will follow a set of principles to guide how our bonus programmes distribute the investment … [there will be] easy-to-understand requirements that creators can take action on to help them grow their businesses.”

Facebook said it will reward creators who create “original and high-quality content”. It aims to support creators of all sizes across a wide range of verticals, with earning opportunities for a variety of content on its apps.