TikTok and Clubhouse in Check... Facebook Invests 1 Trillion Won in Content

Photo by AP

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The world's largest social media platform, Facebook, announced that it will pay $1 billion (approximately 1.144 trillion KRW) to content creators by next year.

On the 14th (local time), CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in a Facebook post that Facebook and Instagram plan to support people who create content in this way.

CEO Zuckerberg said, "We want to build the best platform where millions of creators can make a living," and added, "We are launching a new program investing over $1 billion to reward creators who make great content."

He added, "Investment in creators is not new to us, but we are excited to expand this work over a long period of time."

Facebook has recently introduced several programs that provide financial support to creators. For example, last month, it announced that it would suspend taking a cut of revenue generated by creators from paid online events or subscriber sign-ups until 2023.

Foreign media interpreted this move as reflecting the simultaneous government and congressional antitrust investigations and regulatory actions targeting big tech companies, as well as negative public opinion.

Notably, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Ending Platform Monopolies Act" at the end of last month to curb the growing influence of platform operators such as Facebook. If this bill passes both houses and is signed by the president, analysts say Facebook could be broken up into multiple companies like Standard Oil in the past.

There is also an interpretation that this is to secure competitiveness against other popular platforms such as TikTok and Clubhouse. Facebook recently made audio investments to strengthen its stance against Clubhouse. CNBC explained, "This is Facebook's way to attract influencers on its video-centric platform."

As part of the new program, Facebook will introduce a bonus program starting today through the end of this year, paying money to creators who reach certain milestones.

One of these is the "Reels Summer Bonus," which pays money to U.S. users who post excellent Reels content on Instagram. Reels are full-screen short videos introduced to Instagram last year, designed to compete with TikTok, a social media platform for sharing short videos.

Additionally, Instagram will create a dedicated space this summer, and Facebook will do the same this fall, to guide creators on the rewards they can receive.