Cash Bribes in Eye-Watering Amounts
The battle to ban TikTok in the United States is causing significant disruption for content creators who rely on promoting and sharing their videos with the world. Amid this whirlwind of events, Instagram is reportedly offering large sums of money to influencers to entice them back to Meta’s platform by signing exclusive contracts. These sums are believed to range between $10,000 and $50,000.
The media storm surrounding the potential ban of TikTok, following Donald Trump’s re-election as the Republican President of the United States, is one of the most surreal events in recent times. The fate of the Chinese social network remains uncertain. On 20 January, the day of Trump’s return to power, TikTok’s service was inoperative for 14 hours. However, since then, the platform has returned to normal operations in the U.S., leaving its users in a state of flux.
Seizing this opportunity, Instagram appears to be leveraging the precarious situation TikTok finds itself in, aiming to persuade high-profile content creators to prioritise publishing their videos on Mark Zuckerberg’s platform over any other application.
Cash Bribes in Eye-Watering Amounts
It’s no secret that influencers sometimes sell their content to the highest bidder in pursuit of maximum earnings. This is precisely what appears to be happening now. According to the news outlet The Information, Instagram representatives have been contacting influencers to convince them to share their videos on Instagram first, offering a monthly bonus of tens of thousands of dollars in return.
This scheme reportedly includes one of the largest bonuses Instagram has ever proposed, ranging between $10,000 and $50,000. Although details remain unclear, the primary responsibility assigned to the content creator would be to publish a specific number of Reels per month, as agreed upon in their contract. The payment amount would vary depending on these terms.
It’s worth noting that Instagram previously introduced a revenue system called Reels Play in 2023. Given TikTok’s current challenges, it’s not surprising that Instagram is revisiting this initiative. Even though the United States is pushing to shut TikTok down permanently with the enactment of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), the Chinese app remains operational in many other countries, boasting millions of active users daily.
Instagram’s Tactics to Reclaim the Throne
Whatever the outcome, it seems clear that Instagram is not ready to give up. The platform is determined to employ all necessary tactics to fill its space with short-form videos garnering millions of views, aiming to re-establish itself as the go-to social app for multimedia content on a global scale.
