Creators talk about slashes and soaring metrics of Instagram's Reels program payout

Social media platforms are playing tug of war as they compete for the stream of creators looking for the perfect place to monetize their content. Taking the lead is TikTok, but we see Meta gradually making moves to catch up over the past few months. Apart from the introduction of Reels, the company promised last year to invest $1 billion in creators. But its mission to make the place attractive for creators faces issues with Instagram Reels creators saying that their earnings have been reduced in the past weeks and the monetization target metrics have soared. 

The unexpected and abrupt changes shocked many creators, saying they weren’t informed or given explanations about it. From the report in the Financial Times, one creator detailed that their target threshold of 58 million views to earn $35,000 increased to whopping 359 million views.

In response to the issues it is facing, Meta, Instagram’s parent company, responded by saying that the possible cause of the incident might be the Reels bonuses being tested on Instagram and Facebook. According to the company, it might have caused the fluctuations in the payout since the pricing models are changed.

The Reels Play Bonus Program is introduced on Instagram as part of Meta’s objective to attract content creators. It works like TikTok, where short videos will be monetized depending on different factors. Under Instagram’s Reels Play Bonus Program, creators can earn $600 up to $35,000 if they hit specific metrics. From the set of rules posted on the Help Center of the platform, it is said that the payout is based on the performance of your reel and that the requirements and the details of each bonus program may vary by participant.

During the earlier days of the program last year, creators expressed their concerns about its confusing rules on how payout is calculated. Instagram, however, responded by just saying that the program was still in its early stages. And now that the program is in hot water again, it is time for Meta to take action if it really wants to win the competition against TikTok.