San Francisco (AFP)
TikTok will directly pay some of the renowned creators of its platform of light, artistic or humorous videos whose popularity has exploded thanks to lockdowns during the pandemic.
The social network popular with young people has announced the creation of an American fund endowed with 200 million dollars (172 million EUR), an amount that will increase.
This fund will soon distribute funds to creators and influencers. To apply, they must be aged 18 and over, have a minimum number of subscribers to their profile, and regularly post videos that comply with the platform's regulations.
"Our creators will be able to generate additional income that will reward the care and passion they put into creating original connections with their audiences," TikTok said.
Attracting and keeping creators has become a big issue for social networks competing for user attention.
YouTube allows creators who have reached certain thresholds (number of subscribers and hours broadcast, in particular) to serve ads to monetize their videos.
The Google subsidiary can also make deals with stars, such as Sweden's PewDiePie, who broadcasts his videos live exclusively on YouTube.
Until now, TikTok has worked more of the Instagram model: Creators can run sponsored videos on their channel, but there was no direct compensation program of this magnitude.
The social network did not specify how many people would be eligible or how much money they would receive.
But this decision should help him strengthen ties with creators whose fame now extends beyond the application. Many of them signed advertising partnerships and ended up on magazine covers.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese group ByteDance and has nearly 1 billion users.
The app could become an independent business from its parent company to escape the risk of a ban by Washington, which suspects it of spying on behalf of the Chinese government.
© 2020 AFP