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Snapchat has just launched a new feature called Spotlight, to “to shine a light on the most entertaining Snaps created by the Snapchat community.”
To encourage viral posts, Snapchat will pay creators whose Snaps make it to Spotlight, from a pool of “more than $1 million” set aside for distributing to creators every day.
The company says it will moderate the feed for violations, and for anyone attempting to game the algorithm.
“We actively monitor for fraud to ensure that we only account for authentic engagement with Snaps. Our formula may be adjusted from time to time,” it said.
We designed Spotlight to entertain our community while living up to Snapchat values, with our community’s well being as a top priority. Spotlight content is moderated and doesn’t allow for public comments.
Snap Inc.
The feature will include people with “private, personal accounts” as well as its biggest stars, Snapchat says. Spotlight will reward popular videos without their creators having to worry about consistency or the number of followers.
To earn the money, video submitters to Spotlight don’t have to have large followers — or even have public profiles. Instead, an algorithm will determine what to show Snapchat users based on how often others view the post. If others view the same video repeatedly, for instance, that’s a signal it’s catching on and will spur the algorithm to distribute it more widely.
Sarah Frier, Bloomberg Quint
“To help surface new types of content Snapchatters may be interested in, and mitigate against echo chambers, we’ve built diversity directly into the Spotlight experience,” the company said.
This change comes on the heels of Twitter and Instagram making two significant features additions. Instagram initiated a redesign to Reels, its TikTok clone, and Twitter added Fleets, which are stories—a feature already there in Instagram and Snapchat .
The $1m-a-day payment would run at least till the end of the year in the US, and if successful, it could potentially continue into 2021. Snapchat hasn’t shared any details about how many people the $1m-a-day will be split between.
A spokesperson for Snap said the top payouts will be a significant part of the pie. It will be a minimum of $250, and the payments are only for people over 16.
Spotlight is available starting in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, with more countries coming soon. At launch, Spotlight will not have advertising but the company expects to add that in the coming months.
