TikTok seems to stumble on a new challenge each week. As the US government is still mulling with the idea of banning the short video app, Facebook is reportedly offering money to top TikTok influencers in a bid to lure them to create content for Reels.
Reels is a short video platform, viewed as Facebook’s attempt to compete with TikTok, which currently has over 2 billion downloads worldwide. Facebook is getting ready to launch the app in August and this explains their attempt to lure influencers.
According to the WallStreet Journal, Facebook has asked the TikTok content creators to post exclusively on Reels. Those who do not agree have been asked to post their content first on Reels, before any other app. The company has gone as far as offering to cater for video production costs with the caveat that the influencers sign non-disclosure agreements keeping the deal on the down-low.
Read: Five Female TikTok Influencers Jailed In Egypt
Facebook is said to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the influencers, with those agreeing to post exclusively on Reels fetching much more.
“We have a long history of reaching out to emerging creators and working to break new stars on Instagram.” A Facebook spokesperson told Forbes.
This explains TikTok’s latest decision to launch a $200million fund to pay their content creators. As KahawaTungu reported earlier in the week, the app launched the app in a bid to maintain their most popular content creators and attract new ones.
This will not be the first time the companies are going head to head. TikTok previously ran its ads on Instagram and Facebook in direct attempts to lure users to the app.
Unfortunately, TikTok is facing mounting criticism in the US over security and privacy concerns due to its Chinese background. The company has repeatedly denied claims that it shares users’s data with the Chinese government.
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