As TikTok’s place in the creator economy feels more uncertain than ever, Meta seems to be taking full advantage. Meta is offering bonuses for using Instagram first.
According to The Information, Instagram representatives are allegedly offering big TikTok creators cash bonuses of $10,000, $50,000, and even higher to start posting Reels. Naturally, the deal has conditions. Creators are purportedly required to post their video content exclusively to Instagram before rolling it out to other competitor platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
Speaking to The Information, an unnamed source claims that Meta employees are “skeptical” of how well this tactic will work for two main reasons. The first is that, as the source claims, the company is losing its young user base. The second reason is Mark Zuckerberg’s recent efforts to move Meta to the right have made them unpopular with some creators.
These reports shouldn’t come as a surprise. Meta has announced a slew of updates to make Instagram even more TikTok-like than it already is. For instance, profile grids are now rectangular rather than square, and are now able to make Reels that are up to 3 minutes long. Moreover, Meta recently introduced Edits, an app that seems strongly inspired by the ByteDance-owned CapCut.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time Instagram has offered bonuses to creators. Back in 2021, Instagram launched its Reels bonus program, but it died a slow death and was cut in 2023.
Perhaps Meta learned from this and will ensure these cash bonuses are not subjected to the same fate. But now TikTok is back (for the next 75 days), Instagram once again has stiff competition.
