Episode 4: Social media platforms are devaluing creators… Here’s How

Welcome to Unboxing Creator Culture, a weekly digest to keep you updated on what's going on in the social media industry, what TikTok and YouTube's top creators are talking about this week, and how I help creators scale and monetize their audience. I'm Shan, Founder & CEO @Genflow where I work with creators and help them sell content, build businesses and work with the best brands. Click Subscribe above to be notified of my weekly edition.

I’ve been building in the creator economy for over 6 years, and I say this every day to my team and my creators: there's been no better time to be a creator than now.

It’s an economy worth $100 billion dollars right now, and there are over 50 million creators in this space. The platforms are reinventing their models on a weekly basis to make their UI the best for creators to create on, and every few weeks, we hear about a new feature update or a new algorithm.

Creators on the other hand are also making a very important decision – which platform do they want to create for and build an audience on? As we know, building an audience is the most powerful asset in the world, and creators have to think about how they connect with their different audiences across platforms, and how to cross-promote their content.

But as of this week, there’s been a shift in ad revenues for some of our everyday social platforms, which is going to make this decision of choosing a ‘preferred platform’ for a creator way easier.

Short-form video master TikTok splits ad revenue 50/50 with approved creators through its TikTok Pulse program, which was announced in May but finally rolled out earlier this week. Its rules are pretty simple, creators with 100,000+ followers will receive a 50% split of ad revenue from TikTok. Brands will put ads on TikTok videos that are in the top 4% of performers on any given day, and creators will get 50% of the revenue TikTok brings in from the brands.?

To counteract this, Youtube also just announced that it will share its ad revenue on Shorts from January 2023 with creators. While long-form video creators will still be compensated with a 50/50 split, Shorts creators will be entitled to a 45% share while YouTube will take 55%.

Instagram is currently paying $0 to its creators for any Reel content, but Facebook is sharing 55% with creators through in-stream ads on Facebook Reels. Twitch is winning this game as it’s committed to a 70/30 premium rate, but only on the first $100,000. Everything after this point is reduced to its standard 50/50 split for its creators.

While all these social networks may be doing the best they can to make creators use their platform more than any other, they are still not focussing on the most important and valuable aspect of being a creator. The monetisation of their audience.?

MrBeast and his 100 million subscribers on YouTube may be an impressive number, but the business model of Youtube doesn’t necessarily allow MrBeast to monetise his audience on YouTube itself. MrBeast has to take his audience outside of these social platforms and truly build his career as a creator.

Creators have always been able to count on these ad sense shares where revenue is concerned, but this is devaluing creators and their true potential as a whole. This is why creators need to build their audience on social media and then work on building their brands outside of these platforms (something they truly own) so they aren’t taken advantage of with these changes every few months…?

I’ve been saying this to creators since 2016… and this is exactly what we do at Genflow.?

My Podcast – Life of an Entrepreneur

This week’s episode is so special. Last week, we celebrated 6 years of Genflow, and in my recent podcast episode, I reflected back on the last 6 years and the moments that shaped and transformed the business.?

Also, Streamys 2022 nominations are out! Who do you think is the Creator of the Year?

Have a great weekend! See you next week.