Short form video creators on Instagram and Facebook will soon lose a way to make money on the platforms.
Meta is ending its Reels Play bonus program, which rewards content creators when they reach certain viewing goals for their videos. The change, first reported by Business Insider, it will affect creators on Facebook and US creators on Instagram. The company will not offer new or renewed Reels Play bonus offers, but will honor existing commitments for the next 30 days, according to Business Insider.
“We are evolving the trial of our Reels Play bonus on Instagram and Facebook as we focus on investing in a suite of monetization solutions to help creators earn consistent streams of revenue,” said Paige Cohen, spokesperson for Meta. the edge in an email. “We will look at ways to run the program in a more targeted way, for example, in potential new markets.”
The Reels bonus program has had its ups and downs since Meta launched it in 2021 to try to compete with TikTok. Initially, the creators saw large payouts, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. But throughout 2022, some creators reported that the payouts had dropped and it was getting harder to get the same amount in bonuses.
Cohen noted that creators can still earn money through subscriptions and brand partnerships. The Reels bonuses were part of Meta’s $1 billion two-year money pool that the company promised would go to creators through 2022.
Similar incentives at other companies have been slowly tapering off as well. There was something of a gold rush on Snapchat in 2020 when the company announced that pay $1 million per day for successful content on his TikTok-esque feature, Spotlight. That amount was gradually reduced throughout 2022 and other monetization methods were introduced, such as ad revenue sharing. YouTube initially offered cash payments for creators to create content for its TikTok clone Shorts, but announced it would switch to a revenue-sharing model last fall.
Other companies like TikTok are restructuring creator funds and incentivizing new types of content. The short-form video app recently announced an updated fund that only rewards creators who make videos longer than a minute. Monetization directly from the platforms has been a problem: Under TikTok’s original background, some creators reported low earnings even for viral videos.
