According to the latest news, last Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Chief Executive said that the company will build new features starting with Instagram for content creators so that they can earn money from recommending products on the app and a marketplace to help connect brands with influencers.
During a live stream video, while speaking with Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook-owned Instagram, Zuckerberg said the social network will launch “creator shops” as part of its eCommerce push.
Note that these announcements are part of Facebook’s effort to serve the “creator economy” in which social media influencers, journalists, and others will be able to earn money directly from their fans on platforms like Clubhouse, Patreon, Substack, and YouTube. In simple words, according to Zuckerberg, Facebook will build an affiliate program that will let content creators earn a commission percentage from every successful sale of products they recommend.
A Facebook spokeswoman was contacted regarding how much creators will earn and the timeline of these features but she declined to make a comment.
According to Mosseri, the new marketplace to connect creators with brands will help more users with mid-sized followings to earn money from the platform. Income disparity is a growing concern in the creator economy where top social media personalities often garner outsized earnings, but smaller creators struggle to make a living.
Mosseri also added, “If we can help with matchmaking, we can help drive more dollars to the smaller creators who can do amazing work for brands.”
Analysts believe these announcements are also part of Facebook’s efforts to catch up with the popular short-form video app TikTok. Note that TikTok has already tested eCommerce features like live streamed shopping. Last year, with its Reels feature, Instagram started directly competing with TikTok.
Last month, Facebook said it would let creators earn ad revenue from videos as short as one minute. The company also announced it will expand its existing ‘Stars’ virtual currency which is a form of tipping to favorite content creators.
