Will we soon have to pay to watch a TikTok? The social network is studying the establishment of a payment system for certain content. The initiative aims to increase creator loyalty and boost Chinese market share among older audiences, according to the latest report from The Information.
Videos accessible from a dollar
Like a news site, TikTok would develop a paywall available to creators. The latter could then choose to charge certain videos to their viewers by setting the price themselves (from $1 in the United States). The feature would allow influencers to get extra earnings on longer value videos. That said, offering a production aimed exclusively at paying fans is no brainer. In the United States, Instagram already has subscriber-only posts, Reels, and Stories.
“On TikTok, anyone can be a creator and enjoy the entertainment of our inspiring creators. And we aim to keep innovating so people can express themselves, find their community and be rewarded for their creativity.”explains Zachary Kizer, spokesperson for TikTok in an email sent to our colleagues.
The revamped fund for creators?
For now, TikTok has not released details on the release date of this new tool. The current system would be the subject of many criticisms, accused of not generating enough money. Along with the development of paywallthe social network would consider modifying the fund dedicated to creators on the basis of what already exists in France or Brazil.
In France, tiktokers aged 18 and over with more than 10,000 subscribers and 100,000 views in the last 30 days have been able to access the TikTok Program for creation since October 2022. Videos of more than one minute are thus better remunerated.
The new functions developed for creators are seen as an attempt by TikTok to renew itself against other platforms. With the success of the application in recent years, American social networks are following the trend, offering short videos and starting to monetize these new formats, like YouTube Shorts.