Social media giant Meta has offered to pay up to $5,000 (£4,040) to popular creators in the US who join Facebook and Instagram.
It says those who join “third-party social apps” will receive money based on an “assessment of your social presence.”
While he doesn’t mention TikTok by name, the timing suggests Meta is trying to capitalize on the uncertainty surrounding its rival, as questions swirl about whether President Trump can find a way to preserve it for users Americans.
TikTok says it has 170 million users in the United States — many of whom rely on it for their livelihoods — meaning many people would look for somewhere else to post if the platform disappeared.
Meta says on its website that people accepted into the so-called “Breakthrough bonus program” will receive money during their first 90 days on the app, provided they post regularly.
Users must post at least 20 reels on Facebook and 10 reels on Instagram – the Meta version of TikTok vertical videos – during each 30-day period.
It also states that they must be original videos, rather than those previously shared on other platforms.
But not everyone can participate – the money will only be available to people who are completely new to Facebook or Instagram.
And the company will apparently decide who to accept on a case-by-case basis, as people must apply to be accepted into the program.
It also offers other benefits, such as a free subscription to its blue check verification system.
This is not Meta’s first move to attack ByteDance users.
On Sunday, the company announced Edits, an app strikingly similar to ByteDance’s CapCut – a video editing app that was taken offline when the ByteDance ban went into effect the same day.
And two days earlier, Meta posted a video in which two creators discussed Facebook’s “new affiliate link experience for your shoppable content” — in other words, Meta’s attempt at creating its own version from the successful TikTok store.
In the new system, Meta users will be able to add prominent affiliate links directly to their videos – rather than in comments – exactly how it works on TikTok.
But that’s not all of the changes Meta is making – and perhaps the most visually significant is a direct change to how Instagram looks.
Rather than posts and videos being square on user profiles, they are now rectangular – again, clearly taking inspiration from TikTok.
This sparked backlash from creators frustrated that their profiles now looked different, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said he was aware of the criticism.
“One of the mistakes I made was not informing people enough,” he said in an article on Threads, a platform itself launched by Meta to try to capitalize on the turbulence of Twitter, now X.
