Instagram, which is owned by Meta Platforms, is said to have lowered creator payouts while raising target metrics for monetisation on the network.

According to global business daily, The Financial Times, creators’ per-view payments have dropped by as much as 70%, and videos require millions of views to be paid.

Changes in the payout system, according to the creators, were not disclosed by the company. According to the FT, a creator’s personalised threshold for earning up to $35,000 has increased from 58 million to 359 million views.

Meta said it was testing Reels bonuses on Instagram and Facebook, which could cause payouts to “fluctuate” until pricing models are updated.

In July last year, Instagram unveiled the ‘Reels Play Bonus Programme,’ which compensates creators who publish on Reels, Instagram’s TikTok-style short-form video clone. As they fight to maintain producers on their platforms, TikTok and Snapchat have created similar pools of money to be handed out.

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