TikTok has announced changes to its monetization system after successive complaints from content creators on the platform. The Creator Fund, the original system that launched in 2020, had $1 billion planned to be distributed among its participants over the next three years.
After this time, TikTok has developed a new monetization system taking into account the negative opinions of users. The content creators of the Chinese platform believe that with the original monetization fund it is not possible to generate enough money to stay profitably on the social network.
Now TikTok has announced that there will be changes to the system, although at the moment it has not confirmed if there will be an economic increase. The ByteDance application has launched the Creativity Program system, according to which it is necessary to make longer videos to benefit from the monetization options.
Considering that TikTok's popularity was largely driven by its short video format, the new system update is paradoxical. Everything seems to indicate that the platform will change its approach in the coming months, encouraging content creators to record long-lasting videos.
This change to the monetization system is an attempt to improve the growth of the network and address complaints from creators. In order to make use of the Creativity Program, a series of requirements must be met, such as being over 18 years of age and having a certain number of followers and views on the profile.
As explained by TikTok in the update of its monetization rules, to participate it will be necessary to create "original, high-quality videos that are longer than one minute." Zachary Kizer, spokesperson for TikTok, has declared for The Verge that it will not be revenue derived from advertising on the platform, but rather calculations between the number of qualified views and the RPM, revolutions per minute.
With this calculation, Kizer explains, a figure is obtained that will fluctuate according to the metrics achieved. According to the platform, this requirement allows "to foster the creativity of creators, generate greater income potential and unlock more interesting opportunities in the real world."
What TikTok has not specified is how or to what extent this rule will affect the income of content creators. The new Creativity Program Beta system has already been launched in the United States, France and Brazil. Those who already participate in the original system will have the option to participate in the new model, although with no option to return to the old one.
