Facebook wants creators, but YouTube is paying creators much, much more
YouTube gives half its revenue to the people who make its videos. Facebook — despite a $1 billion pledge — doesn’t want to do that.
Facebook has nearly 2.9 billion users, so lots of people use Facebook to reach that giant audience. But Facebook wants even more people posting more stuff on its platforms, so it’s going to pay out $1 billion by the end of 2022 to encourage creators — people who make internet content for fun and profit but generally aren’t running full-fledged media companies — to make stuff for Facebook and Instagram. The impetus here is clear: Facebook wants more engaging stuff on its apps, and it’s also trying to compete with the likes of TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.
Rewarding people who make stuff for you by paying them is a well-worn playbook for the big internet platforms. Yes, they would really rather have you give them your stuff for free — and you are very much welcome to continue giving Mark Zuckerberg pictures of your dogs and kids. Still, Facebook and its competitors have come to realize that people who are really good at making things often want to get paid for those things. So, fine.
But it’s worth noting that there’s a meaningful difference between Facebook’s newest gambit and the one that Google’s YouTube has been using to great success: Facebook, for now, is giving creators a lot less money.
