Looks Like Twitter is Finally Going To Pay Content Creators

Elon Musk made an announcement on Twitter last week stating that Twitter will begin compensating creators for ad revenues generated from ads that appear in the reply threads of their tweets. However, there is a catch. In order to qualify for this revenue-sharing program, creators must enroll in Twitter Blue Verified, which costs $8 per month and provides users with a verified blue checkmark next to their account name as well as additional benefits. Despite this news, it remains unclear what percentage of ad revenues Twitter plans to distribute to creators.

In a staff Q&A session in November, Musk discussed his plans to enhance creator monetization on Twitter. Specifically, he proposed incentivizing YouTube creators to share their videos on the platform by paying them 10% more than what they earn on YouTube. In addition, he also took to Twitter to express his belief that video content could pave the way for monetization opportunities for creators across all forms of content.

All social media platforms are actively seeking sustainable ways to incentivize creators to produce content. In the 2023 Social Media Trends report, Insider Intelligence projected that virtually every platform will introduce ad revenue sharing with creators by the end of the year, which will likely result in the dissolution of creator funds.

Recently, YouTube replaced their Shorts fund with ad revenue sharing on February 1. Creators who meet the criteria will receive 45% of the ad revenue generated by their Shorts content.

While Meta executives expressed reluctance during last week’s Q4 earnings call to implement a “broad rev share” program on Instagram Reels, we anticipate that intense competition from TikTok (and the move by YouTube Shorts to share ad revenues) will eventually persuade Meta to adopt ad revenue sharing.

Twitter’s requirement that creators must subscribe to Twitter Blue to be eligible for ad revenue sharing has sparked debate among users. While some people agree with Musk’s belief that investing money can result in earning more, many remain unconvinced.

It’s uncertain how many tweets (and replies) a creator would need to generate to justify paying $8 per month, particularly given the unsatisfactory state of Twitter’s advertising business.

Musk is known for making major announcements and then retracting or altering them. This week, for instance, he reneged on his plan to enhance Twitter’s API monetization by stating that he would provide “light, write-only” access for specific bots that provide “good content” for free.