TikTok is starting a $200 million fund for its top creators
Famous TikTok users can apply to get paid.
Social media has launched many otherwise-anonymous people to fame, but there’s always controversy and drama around how those people should be compensated. TikTok is no exception, so the company is taking some steps to keep creators from fleeing its platform for greener pastures with a $200 million TikTok Creator Fund. As the name implies, the Creator Fund will go towards users who want to try and make a living with the content they post on TikTok.
TikTok says that to apply for funding, you need to be 18 or older, meet an as-yet undisclosed “baseline” for followers and post consistently to the platform. Applications will open in August. The company says that it’s giving out the $200 million over the next year and expects to grow those funds during that time.
Figuring out a strategy for paying creators is a pretty key part of a network like TikTok’s long-term survival — while paying stars wasn’t the only problem with Vine, making it profitable for popular users to stay on the platform is a pretty essential. Otherwise, what’s to keep those stars from jumping ship for another platform and taking all their users with them? Of course, it’s far too soon to say if TikTok’s fund will do the trick, but it’s a good sign that the company isn’t waiting around to figure out what to do with its biggest stars.
