Some TikTok creators may soon get paid for creating filters and effects for the platform.
The company on Tuesday announced the launch of a $6 million fund called TikTok’s Effect Creator Rewards, which will offer payments to users in selected regions who make "high-performing effects."
Creators will be paid based on "the community’s engagement with their effects," TikTok said in a blog post. They will be paid $700 for every effect that has been used in 500,000 unique videos within 90 days of being published. They can also earn $140 for every 100,000 videos published after the initial 500,000 within the same 90 days.
TikTok last year launched Effect House, an augmented reality tool that allows users to create, publish and share dynamic effects.
TikTok has previously used influencers to help create filters, Insider reported last year. Some creators who spoke with the publication said they hope to be better recognized for their work.
“My hope for the future is that big companies or brands will start giving credit to AR filter creators when using our work, especially when they are monetizing from it,” Emma Sofija, who has made several viral randomized and gamified effects, told Insider in June.
The fund is another opportunity for creators to monetize their presence on TikTok.
In a July 2020 blog post, TikTok introduced its $200 million Creator Fund, which it said it expects will "grow to over $1 billion in the US in the next 3 years."
But since then, many creators have complained that TikTok, a multibillion-dollar company, has been underpaying them. In January 2022, creators began going viral after they pointed out that the fund, which acted as a pool of money from which all eligible creators shared, was an outdated form of payment.
“Literally, when TikTok becomes more successful, TikTokers become less successful,” YouTube and TikTok star Hank Green said at the time.
TikTok has worked to add more monetization tools, like the Effect Creator Rewards and the Creativity Program Beta, a revamped version of its monetization tool, which launched in February. Those who want to join must have 10,000 followers and 100,000 authentic video views in the previous 30 days, TikTok said at the time.
In its latest update on May 3, TikTok said the Creativity Program Beta remains "in its early stages," noting the platform is "continuously exploring ways to improve the experience for our creator community and the way creators are rewarded."
