Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta announced that it wouldn’t take a cut of creators’ revenue on Facebook and Instagram as a measure to help small businesses. The company first announced the cut-free revenue would last “for at least the next year,” but now it has confirmed that the benefit will extend until 2024.
The announcement was made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post (via The Verge). According to Zuckerberg, the company will “hold off on any revenue sharing on Facebook and Instagram until 2024.” Creators will have two more years from now to receive 100% of the profits from paid online events, fan subscriptions, badges, and bulletins.
This can be seen as Facebook’s attempt to compete with TikTok, as the platform now allows creators to offer access to exclusive lives through a paid subscription. Other social networks like Twitter have also been investing in new ways to let creators monetize their content.
When Facebook first announced that it would stop taking a cut of creators’ revenue during the pandemic, the company asked Apple and Google to skip or at least reduce their 30% commission for in-app sales. However, while Google agreed with Facebook, Apple denied the request. Unsurprisingly, Facebook criticized Apple for its decision.
But this is not the only update announced by Zuckerberg on Tuesday. Meta’s platforms will now have interoperable subscriptions, so that paying subscribers on other platforms can also have access to exclusive Facebook groups. In addition, Facebook is expanding Stars to all eligible creators.
Other updates include opening up the Reels Play Bonus program to more creators, as well as new features for marketplaces and NFTs.
More about Facebook:
- Leaked Facebook memo shows Meta’s quest to be TikTok, Messenger returning to main app
- Meta says it won’t collect user data ‘in new ways’ – but what’s that supposed to mean?
