On November 6, TikTok announced that it will sunset the $2 billion Creator Fund, which was established in 2020 to pay creators on the platform for viral videos. Starting December 16, if creators wish to be compensated directly by TikTok, they will need to enroll in the Creativity Fund, which only pays creators for videos longer than 60 seconds—the equivalent of long-form for many on the platform. For creators interviewed by Fortune, the end of the Creator Fund validates their fears that the platform does not truly value their short-form content, and that the longevity of careers in social content creation remains uncertain.
“I’m always anxious about being a professional creator long-term, just because there’s really no line of sight into what the future holds,” says Alexa Santos, a Fort Lauderdale–based food and recipe social creator, who runs TikTok account @alexawhatsfordinner, which has over 16 million likes. She believes her viral recipe videos are best between 15 to 20 seconds in length, but is forcing herself to stretch them to 60-plus seconds for eligibility in TikTok’s Creativity Fund, as it’s now a primary way for creators to get compensated by the platform outside of live-streaming and shopping. “It’s always stressful when things change on us; you have to change what you’re doing and alternate how you’re creating content.”
When TikTok announced the $200 million Creator Fund in July 2020, the company said its goal was to “support ambitious creators looking for opportunities to make a living from their cutting-edge content. “Although the company increased the investment to $2 billion over the next few years, creators would largely say that TikTok’s ambition will not be met. Even creators who have garnered millions of expectations each month have said that the Fund will pay negligible sums. “It’s become very transparent from the beginning that I’m not going to make a living from the Creator Fund,” says comedian Pat Beutow (@nomdecoom on TikTok), who was part of the Creator Fund from spring 2021 until recently. During that time, he claims his videos averaged 2 million consistent with outlooks consistent with the month, but he earned “a few hundred dollars” in total. “They are our technology lords; They can finish it at any time if they want. “
The eligibility requirements for the Creative and Creator budget remain the same: TikTokers want more than 10,000 fans and more than 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. A TikTok spokesperson told Fortune that all members of the Creator Fund will be automatically accepted into the Creativity Fund. , although they will have to be transferred voluntarily.
Since joining the Creator Fund about two years ago, Azure MacCannell, known for its cleanup videos as @livecomposed, has generated $6,328 from the Creator Fund, or about $100 per month for the millions of constant insights it generates each month. “When I started [at Creator Fund], I don’t forget to think, ‘Oh, this is something I can make money from,'” MacCannell says. “But as I’ve grown in my career as a content creator, I know that [the Creator Fund] is rarely enough of an incentive to show up and keep creating content all the time. “Today, MacCannell basically uses TikTok to post videos he makes for brands, his main source of income. Bio-based content performs better on other social platforms.
The death of the TikTok Creator Fund is another tombstone in the graveyard of systems introduced (and cancelled) through social giants to pay creators. Earlier this year, Meta ended its Reels Bonus program and is in the process of revamping its ad revenue sharing program. ; Both were introduced to compensate creators for short-form video content. TikTok also quietly scrapped its Pulse ad profit-sharing program after Fortune wrote about it by paying just a few cents to creators.
Meanwhile, YouTube and Snapchat have doubled creator pay. The YouTube Shorts Partner Program is a simple game aimed at getting disenchanted TikTokers like MacCannell and Santos to create content for the Google-owned video site, and it’s going pretty well. Snapchat has also tried to capture the time and content of more sensible creators like sisters D’Amelio and David Dobrik with its “crazy” monetization program that paid some creators more than $10,000 for a few days of posts, reports Fortune.
Still, TikTok is regarded among creators as the best platform to find viral success. And creators tell Fortune that the Creativity Fund, its initiative to compensate creators for videos over 60 seconds, is paying out meaningful sums. It’s not clear why the payouts for longer videos are so different than those for short videos have been, though some creators suspect it’s related to TikTok’s ambition to escalate competition with YouTube. “It has been a helpful chunk of change—for the first time—as of the last two or three months,” says comedy creator Beutow. “But because of the inconsistency of the algorithm, it’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, I don’t need other methods of income.’”
Ever-changing payment systems, fickle algorithms, and unpredictable trends on platforms can mean it’s harder than ever to be a full-time content creator. Even for creators who rack up millions of monthly prospects, the long-term viability of life (and death) through virality remains financially unpredictable.
Most full-time authors (including Beutow, Santos, and MacCannell) rely on logo deals to stay afloat. “For me and most of my author friends, having logo partnerships is the only way to be able to legitimately make a living from [creation] instead of just picking up crumbs from the Creators Fund here or bonuses there,” Santos says.