Meta introduces Facebook's “Challenges” and content algorithm, payout calculation changes

Meta is still trying to learn how to polish Reels and make them favorable and fair to its creators. On May 4, the company announced new changes regarding the change in its algorithm prioritizing original content, a new monetization opportunity, and an insight tool to guide creators in hitting their targets.

Meta is clear about its distaste for having non-original content on its platforms. Recently, we heard it changing the way its algorithm works to prioritize original content. Now, it is taking another step to motivate creators to observe it.

“We believe that creators who do the hard work of crafting and promoting original content should be rewarded in distribution, growth, and monetization,” says Meta in its blog post. “As part of these efforts, we recently rolled out ranking changes that prioritize the distribution of original content in places where we recommend Reels, like the Reels tab and Feed on Instagram and Feed and Watch on Facebook. As we continue this work, we’re making a few changes to our incentives program that give creators ways to reach new followers and uncover new opportunities.”

According to Meta, the new changes will particularly deal with how payouts of content creators will be calculated. The company didn’t divulge how it would do it. Still, it is clear that the new calculation will be “aimed at rewarding creators across a range of audience sizes who are making high quality original content that resonates with people.” In relation to this, Meta also mentioned that it could lead to big differences in the amount of payout someone will receive. This means it could lead to higher or lower pay for others, depending on the originality of their uploads.

On the other hand, Meta said it is launching a new incentive for creators in the Reels Play bonus program – the “Challenges” on Facebook. The company says that a creator can earn as much as $4,000 a month in this new opportunity by participating in a series of “sequential, cumulative” tasks every month. “For example, earn $20 when 5 of your Reels reach 100 plays each,” explains Meta. “When a creator completes one challenge, the next challenge becomes unlocked. For example, when a creator completes the 5 Reel challenge example above, they would see the next one, e.g., earn $100 when 20 of your Reels reach 500 plays each, and so on. Creators’ progress on Challenges will reset back to #1 at the start of each 30-day bonus period.”

In an effort to make the platform more profitable for creators, Meta announced that Stars on Reels is having a wider expansion and that Instagram creators will be allowed soon to crosspost their Reels to Facebook. Additionally, Meta promises to explore revenue sharing on crossposted Reels via overlay ads to eligible creators. 

Lastly, Meta says it is aware of creators’ requests for “more visibility into how their Reels are performing.” As a response, the company is also launching the Reels Play Bonus Insight page on Facebook, which will make it easier for creators to see how many Plays exactly their qualified Reels are producing during a specific earning period.