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TikTok faces more questions over creator monetization as ‘Pulse’ program falls flat.

Short-form video monetization presents unique challenges, because you can’t directly monetize via in-stream ads, as you can with longer content. A major risk for TikTok, then, is that its top creators will eventually work out that they can make a lot more money by posting to YouTube or Instagram instead, where there are more direct revenue options.

TikTok’s been trying to come up with better solutions on this front, and last year, it launched its Pulse advertising initiative, which enables advertisers to place their ads alongside content from top creators in the app, with creators and publishers that have over 100k followers able to apply to the get a cut of the revenue from these Pulse ads.

Which seems like a potentially viable pathway to greater revenue share. But apparently not.

— Hubert Trinkunas, Rosa Cecilia

In this edition, you'll find:

TikTok expands on DMs
TikTok's "heated" button
YouTube Shorts creator pay cuts
Creator strategies for successful content
The TikTok "MascaraGate" scandal
What creators want from Twitter?

TikTok expands direct messaging...

TikTok is quietly expanding its use of direct messaging. It’s just the latest way TikTok is grafting social network features onto its entertainment feed, as it tries to boost time spent on the app.

Users who want to receive DMs can now opt in to receive messages from everyone, as well as recommended friends.

These latest options should encourage more users to send TikTok videos to friends and others directly on the app, rather than through other services like iMessage or WhatsApp, and could help creators deepen bonds with their followers on the app.

After a rapid, pandemic-buoyed rise, TikTok needs to find new ways to grow and evolve its product. Most users don’t post on TikTok, but go there to watch creators and be entertained. Messaging features could be a way to engage regular users.

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Have you heard about the TikTok “Heated” button?

Did you know that TikTok staff have access to a heating button?

Well I didn’t either and it affects the TikTok algorithm and the algorithmic rules as we know them. According to Forbes, this button can be used to put selected videos onto users’ For You pages, helping boost views by sidestepping the algorithm that supposedly drives the TikTok experience.

The purpose of this heating button is to boost videos in order to introduce celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community. It will also promote some videos to help diversify the content experience. Apparently, however, TikTok doesn’t do it that often, claiming only “.002% of videos in For You feeds are heated. According to an internal document obtained by Forbes, however, heated videos reportedly make up around 1-2 percent of total daily video views. So 98% of the time, the algorithmic rules we know and (sometimes) love still apply.

If you’re a TikTok user you’ll have noticed (or not noticed) that heated videos don’t come with a label to show that they’ve been boosted by TikTok like ads or sponsored posts do, according to the report. Instead, they appear like any other videos that the algorithm would’ve selected for you...

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YouTube Shorts’ ad revenue math will do your head in

Started on February 1st, YouTube will share ad revenue with Shorts creators after covering its music licensing costs. However, the revenue sharing programme seems more complicated than that of TikTok or even YouTube’s traditional video sharing programme. Honestly, I watched a video on it and it was almost as painful as doing taxes.

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Creator strategies for successful content

Did you know that the creator economy is made up of over 200 million creators? Within this huge number, I think it is fair to say that the most successful entrepreneurs in this thriving pool optimise their workflow and leverage a set of tools that enable them to punch above their weight. They do so by utilising the right combination of tools is critical to sustainable growth...

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What is behind the TikTok “Mascaragate” scandal?

Late last week, TikTok was bombarded with scandal after the now infamous ‘MascaraGate’ in which beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira posted a paid partnership TikTok video for a L’Oreal Paris mascara. The video is a standard before and after try on format but users have accused Nogueira of wearing fake eyelashes while singing the praises of a lash-enhancing product.

Nogueira boasts over 14.4 million followers and her video is paired with the caption, “THESE ARE THE LASHES OF MY DREAMS!!” In the 44-second clip, which received over 23 million views, Nogueira claims “this literally just changed my life, I am speechless, and I’m not sure anyone’s gonna ever be able to compete with this mascara.”

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Read more on this and the #deinfluencing trend on Wishu

What creators want from Musk’s Twitter is quite straightforward

At this point with all its chopping and changing, we must ask ourselves what do creators really want from Twitter at this painful point?

Essentially, this was always Musk’s goal; while plenty of creators have Twitter accounts, it’s not typically the social network they pour the most energy into. There are often more lucrative opportunities for sponsorships on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, where they can also reach far more fans. But Musk, who has certainly ramped up the urgency inside Twitter’s product team, has a shot at changing the social network’s reputation.

In regards to how creators themselves feel about this, here are some direct quotes; “I don’t want it to be a TikTok clone,” said Annie Rauwerda, who runs two accounts on Twitter called @depthsofwikipedia (719,000 followers) and @internetdepths (52,000 followers). Her first account also has more than 1 million followers on Instagram. On Twitter and Instagram, she mostly shares screenshots from Wikipedia pages with short comments. “I don’t like posting videos,” she said.

On Twitter, the draw for her is that “it feels like there’s more of a conversation,” she said. “You can reply with links.” Other features such as replies and quote tweets, which allow users to share another person’s tweet with their comments, “make for a more lively community feel,” she said. On Instagram, in contrast, witty user comments often get buried in a thread.

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