Facebook's $1 billion influencer gambit

TikTok is now the first non-Facebook app to reach three billion downloads globally, Sensor Tower reported Wednesday, an achievement made all the more notable when taken alongside news of Facebook's plan to pay creators $1 billion through the end of 2022, per CNBC.

Facebook's billion-dollar gambit is just the latest in the creator-courting "arms race," The New York Times writes, and plays into a larger effort from the social network to pry influencers away from apps like the record-breaking TikTok and onto its platforms. TikTok already has its own "deep relationships" within the creator community.

Under the new program, influencers can earn money by using specific Facebook and Instagram features — like regularly-scheduled live streams, for example — or by hitting certain milestones, per the Times. The $1 billion will be "allocated among creators of all types," and Facebook plans to create a system for creators to "track their bonuses on Instagram and Facebook by the end of the year." For now, the program is invite-only.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Direct payments are becoming an "increasingly common way to try and pry creators away from TikTok," the Times writes. Snapchat tried something similar last year, and Facebook had previously paid TikTokers and Youtubers to use certain Instagram features.

"We want to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. "Investing in creators isn't new for us, but I'm excited to expand this work over time."