Social networks have been filtering into people's daily lives, from the oldest, such as Facebook or Twitter, to the most recent, such as TikTok, Twitch or ClubHouse.
But if the platforms have withstood the passing of the years, it has been thanks to a unique relationship with their users: they can enjoy the content, but they are also the ones who create it.
They have been called by many names: youtubers, tweeters, tiktokers ... But as a whole they are content creators.
The companies behind social networks have tried to return part of their profits to their most prominent users, but this relationship has never been without tension: from time to time there is a transfer of creators between the different networks because they find rules of use that They are more satisfying in the monetary field.
In addition, brands have also wanted to take advantage of the pull of many creators, especially among young audiences.
"The one-way advertising pieces that were made before are no longer interesting, now they are looking for brand prescribers because they have such a loyal target audience that they will actively follow those influencers", explains to
Verne
Mónica Valderrama, vice-rector of Communication and Institutional Relations of the University of Vigo.
The variable nature of this ecosystem, with social networks that are born and that die, and that do not stop copying each other, has generated many debates about the benefits they obtain and those that creators should obtain.
In this article we review the different forms of monetization that the different networks have opted for, as well as the opinion of some creators.
Youtube
YouTube, a video platform owned by Google and in which more than a billion hours of video are consumed per day, according to data from the company itself, has traditionally obtained benefits through advertising.
However, in recent years they have introduced other formulas such as YouTube Premium (which allows you to watch videos without ads, among other things, for 11.99 euros per month) or payment to specific channels through memberships (which allow users to support your channel with monthly payments in exchange for exclusive benefits, such as exclusive access to content).
As explained by Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, in a newsletter, "in 2020 the number of channels that generate most of their income from superchat, superstickers or channel members tripled".
Quantum Fracture,
the scientific dissemination channel founded by physicist José Luis Crespo, has received a great reception with this tool.
“Although it is true that we obtain a percentage of the advertisements, it is not equivalent to the price that this type of production would cost if we sold them in the traditional way.
We have had to find other ways to finance the work and to be able to pay a decent salary to the people who usually collaborate in the project ”.
Crespo began creating content in 2013 as a hobby.
His passion for science, the lack of Spanish-speaking references in the sector and his interest in the audiovisual world created the perfect puzzle.
The first four years he did not get more than 70 euros for his videos, “I had a very small channel and until I took it seriously and started uploading videos every week, I didn't see any results.
In the end I managed to cover the freelance fee and at least I was neutral ”, explains the informant.
In that first stage, Crespo was the man orchestra and was in charge of all the production, conducting and editing.
“It's not an 8-hour-a-day job where you check in and go home, it's something that you take with you everywhere and you don't disconnect, especially in those initial phases.
In my case, having a team now has allowed me to enjoy a normal life and have mental health ”, he recalls.
The
Quantum Fracture
channel
,
which has 2.55 million followers, earns revenue from both advertising and membership.
These are payments that users can make to the channel to access exclusive content.
In the case of
Quantum Fracture, they
are of three types: the basic one, of 1.99 euros per month, for those who want to contribute their bit;
an intermediate one of 9.99 euros per month, which allows users to interact with the community and even choose the next topics for the videos;
and one of 99.99 euros per month for those who want to make large donations and enter their wall of fame.
“Although the one that is chosen the most is the youngest, we have more than 100 people in the middle.
Even the tallest, which we thought would be very timely, racked up up to 12 members in the last video.
Many will think that with these figures you can live in a mansion.
But it is not like that: there are certain commissions and we have to pay taxes for both memberships and advertising.
But it is great for us to continue doing scientific dissemination ”.
He likes YouTube, beyond other formats such as direct ones, because it allows him to create elaborate audiovisual pieces.
"We manage to reach a lot of people and we can also show that scientific and cultural content, so reviled in traditional media, can shine as much as entertainment."
Although the physicist believes that the video platform has become firmer in recent months in the face of misinformation, he still finds things that could be improved: “There are sensitive words that end up demonetizing your content.
We made a video on physics in the Nazi era that got almost no advertisers and was purely educational, while during the quarantine there was a disinformation video on vaccines that became trending.
I understand that it is a complicated problem, but I think it could be done better in that aspect ”, highlights the
youtuber
.
Twitter
On February 25, Twitter announced, in an exclusive event for investors, a new system, known as “
Super Follow”,
so that users can monetize their creations.
This is a monthly subscription of $ 4.99 per month (not yet launched and the rate has not been announced outside the United States), with which users will be able to access exclusive content from people they follow, such as access to exclusive tweets, private groups, paid newsletters (after buying Revue) or badges that reflect that the user is financially supporting others, as
Xataka
explains
in this article.
To date, Twitter had some tools, such as Amplify, that allowed content creators to profit from their videos through brand ads.
But Twitter, which has 192 million daily users, has never stood out precisely for being a monetizable social network.
However, Modesto García, a user with 91,000 followers, has found in her an opportunity to launch as a professional.
He started creating content on the occasion of the first Thread Fair, which was organized by Twitter in 2018. His story of a possible murder disguised as a suicide ended up winning.
“It woke up my motivation to do something more hard-working, without pretending to dedicate myself to it.
It became very viral and I began to have a lot of impact as a content creator, ”he tells
Verne
by phone.
The writer was already fond of the social network and from the contest began to think of creative ways to take advantage of it.
He joined forces with tweeter Manuel Bartual and actress Nikki García to launch the thread
Red Monkey
, in which they had the support of Samsung: “It was something exceptional because we managed to earn some money and also they did not limit us creatively but it is not standardizable either.
I can't tell everyone to make threads to get sponsorships, ”explains the designer.
Although Modesto García specialized in the creation of threads, during confinement he devised the
Illustrated Crimes,
and confesses that they worked better for him on Instagram because of their visual design.
This last game led him to develop a mobile application: “The first three were free, and now I am charging 1 euro for each case, so people lose their natural interest in participating.
In the end I invest many hours of creation in each game, so it does not pay at a monetary level but professionally ”.
This success has allowed him to design illustrated crimes for private companies and will soon launch a compilation book with exclusive games.
🔎 New case to solve!
#Crimenesilustrados5.
A stone from an ancient Egyptian wall has fallen off and killed someone.
But was it an accident or a murder?
📱 Download the app to access the labels and solve the mystery: https://t.co/qe3rB8YbwN pic.twitter.com/hHq1AI9VbE
- Illustrated crimes (@crimenes_ilustr) May 22, 2020
He remembers that on some occasion they have demanded that his content be free: “Many think that I am like a multinational and I am getting rich but it is not like that.
I think the value of content creation is still not very well understood, ”he confesses.
However, the writer considers these projects as a personal brand campaign in order to position himself as a content creator and get other opportunities.
TikTok
TikTok was born in 2018, after the merger of the Chinese apps Douyin and Musical.ly, and in 2020 it was the most downloaded application in the world, which has allowed it to have around 800 million users by now.
On September 2, 2020, it launched a Creators Fund, a "program through which creators have the opportunity to receive periodic payments based on the performance of the videos they upload," as explained from the platform.
This fund, with a current budget of 60 million euros for the whole of Europe and which will be expanded to 225 million in the next three years, ensure that it is not a subsidy or advertising revenue, but a support for creators to promote their creative talents and help them make it their profession.
In addition to that, the application allows you to earn money from advertising and has a contact space between creators and brands.
On the other hand, they have gifts or rewards (which are acquired with real money) that fans can send to their favorite tiktokers on the live.
Rurru (stage name) is a 19-year-old young man who has accumulated more than 4 million followers on this social network.
His charisma and entertaining videos appeal to the younger generation.
The application was downloaded at the insistence of a friend and began to upload some videos until one day everything exploded.
“I woke up that morning and had 100,000 followers, so I kept uploading videos because I was having a good time.
Now it has become my job ”.
@_rurru_
Making you see things that are not Pt. 2
♬ original sound - Rurru
What attracts you the most about the app is its variety.
Beyond dance there are all kinds of professionals who contribute their knowledge to users.
"As they tend to be videos of less than a minute, you fly by, while in others such as Instagram, which is based on photos, they do not entertain the same," explains the young man about his choice.
Although Rurru also has an account on other social networks, he assures that with a good organization he does not feel that he duplicates his work.
Although he has the support of a representation agency that manages sponsorships with brands, since he is part of the creators' fund he has obtained an additional salary.
“The first collaboration was in April and I couldn't believe they paid me to upload a video.
The first thing I did was save it ”, he confesses.
Yolanda Parra, her agent at Sweven Agency, assures that these creator profiles have an immense reach and a very loyal audience.
“Sometimes companies do not realize the potential that children have and back down when it comes to paying.
With the talent profile that we handle, it can be around 3,000 or 4,000 euros per post.
We must bear in mind that other types of advertising, such as appearing in magazines or campaigns with celebrities, can cost up to four times more without being so effective, ”Parra points out.
One of the most emotional moments that the tiktoker remembers was on a trip with the entire agency team.
They were promoting a surf school in Cantabria and received visits from followers every day at the accommodation: “One of the days we saw a lady with a little girl and she told us that she had a very serious illness, that she spent a lot of time in the hospital and that her daughter entertained herself with our videos to forget the situation ”.
At first, his family and friends weren't serious about his work as a content creator, but now they have realized the great potential he has.
“I feel like there is always going to be a debate about our work.
Some have understood that we make entertainment and we are the communication medium of the brands, but others still think that we are just being silly ”, he comments.
In addition, Rurru continues to study his career in Advertising, and when asked about the future, he says that he prefers not to think about it but he is clear that he will continue working and studying "like so many other young people."
Twitch
In the case of Twitch, which has more than 30 million daily active users around the world as indicated on its website, the implementation of the subscription model that ranges from 4.99 to 29.99 euros stands out, of which the
streamers
take 50%, as explained on their website.
The Amazon social network also offers the possibility for users to acquire bits - virtual currencies to offer support -, for creators to introduce advertising in live shows and the sale of associated video games, of which the
streamer
takes 5% of the income.
The most special case, where creators such as Ibai Llanos would enter, are the partners or partners,
streamers
for whom Twitch bets professionally.
With this, it offers them all kinds of benefits such as a closer relationship with the platform, greater customization options and improvements in the quality of the broadcasts, among others.
Instagram and Facebook
Other platforms such as Facebook or Instagram are betting heavily on video and are encouraged to launch their own tools.
Facebook, for its part, is developing paid online events and monthly subscriptions as a way to monetize the content of its creators.
As they have told
Verne
, they take 45% of the
in-stream
ads (video ads) and the rest is for the creator, while in collaborations between users and brands they do not receive any percentage.
His younger sister, Instagram, not only facilitates sponsorship and collaborations with brands, but has also developed stores and will soon expand
Live Shopping
- currently only available in the US - to buy directly from live broadcasts.
In addition, since October 2020, it has made the 'badges' available to Spanish users, virtual currencies that followers can buy to send to their favorite influencers during the 'lives'.
Its communication managers assure
Verne
that "with these products they want to reward creators so that they can continue to share more content."
Social networks have seen the potential of content creators and little by little new ways are emerging to monetize the work they do.
Mónica Valderrama, an advertising expert, believes that the paradigm of creator funds and monetization tools is not new, even though they have other names, “the social network is interested in supporting influencers because it relies on there being traffic, and as long as there is Users can continue to earn revenue from the advertisers behind them.
It is not necessary that the publicity is in the own contents but that the platform continues being popular and generates interest ”.
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