Instagram 'slashes' payouts to creators by 70% on Reels

Meta-owned Instagram has reportedly slashed creators' payout by as much as 70 per cent while increasing target metrics for monetisation for them on the platform.

According to The Financial Times, their payments are down as much as 70 per cent per view and videos need millions more views for creators to get paid.

Creators said that changes in the Instagram payout system have not been explained by the social network.

One creator told the Financial Times that their personalised threshold for "getting paid up to $35,000 had gone from 58 million views to 359 million views".

Meta said in a statement late on Wednesday that the company was testing Reels bonuses on Instagram and Facebook, which may cause payouts to "fluctuate" as pricing models are refined.

Instagram announced the 'Reels Play Bonus Programme' in July last year, offering financial rewards to creators who post on Reels, Instagram's TikTok-style short-form video clone.

To attract more content creators, the photo-sharing platform Instagram reportedly started paying bonuses of up to $10,000 to those who post videos on Reels.

The company claimed that bonuses will become more personalised in the future.

Other social networks like TikTok and Snapchat have introduced similar programmes to keep creators on their platform.