Snapchat Starts Paying Users a Million Dollars to Compete with TikTok

Snapchat wants to compete with TikTok, and it has decided to scratch its pocket. The social network directed by Evan Spiegel has created a new space within the platform called Spotlight. Creators must share their best content for it to go viral. The platform offers rewards of one million dollars a day to be distributed among the users who receive the most interactions.

And, unlike the offers of other similar platforms, such as the Chinese TikTok, Snapchat does not allow users to comment or share the content that is uploaded to Featured if the user’s account is private.

Likewise, for content to be featured in Featured, it must meet a series of requirements, such as being a vertical video with sound, always have a duration of fewer than 60 seconds. Besides, the creator must be 16 years old or older, and the content must appropriate for the public 13+. Regarding how to distribute the million dollars a day among content creators, Snapchat states, somewhat vaguely, that its proprietary formula determines payment. It takes into account various participation metrics and other factors during each day.

The Featured service is now available in the United States. As well as, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France. Soon it will reach more countries.

Snapchat is trying to encourage people to use its creation tools

Snapchat hinted about the Spotlight section months ago. Back in August, the platform announced music in snaps. However, up until now, 

the app lacked a feed for these snaps. The company already allows users to submit their snaps as part of a location. Anyone can drop into and watch to get a feel of what’s happening in a given place at any moment. They appear in Snap Map, which is more documentary in nature. Unlike that feature, Spotlight’s design explicitly focuses on viral video formats.

With Spotlight, Snap is acknowledging the success of TikTok’s short-form viral videos. Similarly, Instagram launched Reels in August. Besides, in the case of Instagram, the platform allows people to bring their TikTok content over to the program. Instead, Snapchat is trying to encourage people to use its creation tools to limit monetization fraud by keeping people in its app. There was a time when stories used to be the format everyone wanted to copy, because of its success on Snapchat. Now, it’s the TikTok video.