Facebook's New Policy for Content Creators
Content creators have their choice of platform to publish on nowadays. With Instagram, YouTube, Patreon and many other websites to use, creatives may use just one or all these sites in order to garner exposure and revenue for their work. While its hard for unknown platforms to get the attention of content creators and their audience, already established websites are constantly changing to get more from the content creators. Facebook has been doing just this, rolling out a fan subscription feature that works in a way similar to Patreon. Facebook is working on this product out while still under a lot of public scrutiny from their scandals in 2018 and is facing some backlash from creators due to the method of this new features release.
Image Courtesy: Getty Images/The Ringer
Facebook had quite a year in 2018, with a handful of scandals that hurt their public appearance. Its first big data breach came in March, with Cambridge Analytica having accessed around ninety million user’s data without their knowledge. It was later found out that many other developers had access to the same data and have had access for several years. As well as getting hacked later in the year, a bug that shared photos of many users that they did not allow to be shared, and several other big issues, Facebook’s public perception dropped a considerable amount last year. A lot of users and content creators alike have lost a lot of trust in the company and have become more reluctant to using its websites.
Facebook also doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to supporting the content creators that use their website. There have been cases of Facebook making it harder for smaller companies to spread their content, and intentionally inflating statistics about video viewership on the site. Creators still must use Facebook though, as it is essential for gaining exposure and accessibility. The fan subscription service shows Facebook trying to make a change for creators though.
Their fan subscription service has been in beta testing for around a year, and during this period 100% of the revenue has gone to the creators. Now that the service has been tested and has an audience, Facebook is readying to officially launch the service. Only now they have added several terms to the service that effects both the creators already using the service and those that might start. Matt Saincome of The Hard Times sounded off on Twitter about Facebook reaching out to him, and the terms he and his coworkers’ thought were laughable.
As you can see from his tweets, Facebook is changing the 100% of revenue kept by the creators to a 70/30 split, while Patreon has always offered a 95/5 split. This is a big difference for many creators, and Facebook also reserved the right to change the revenue share, leaving creators wondering if it will become more reasonable or less in the future. Facebook also included in their terms of service that users give Facebook the license to use any of the content that is shared on the site. This seems more like Facebook stealing content of the creators, instead of supporting their work. Along with several other features to prevent creators from making money in a straightforward way, Facebook has made their service much less favorable, especially to smaller or newer content creators who don’t have as big of an audience yet.
While Facebook is working on its service, creators are still utilizing platforms like Twitch and Patreon that have been steady sources of revenue for many creators for several years. These platforms have always been supportive of the creator, and gives them control of their content, whereas Facebook seems to be doing the opposite. Facebook is holding itself back, coming off as an enemy against content creators instead of a friend. Wyatt Jenkins of Patreon broke down the differences between the two very well saying, “We’re in a very different business model. Facebook has three constituents: advertisers, end users, and, lastly, they have creators. We have one master when we build: creators. No matter how many features Facebook or YouTube build, their priority will be ad revenue, No. 1.” Until Facebook adopts a philosophy that empowers content creators, it will remain safer and more profitable to stick to friendly services.
Strike Out,
Writer: Jacob Richards
Editor: Savannah Tindall
Tallahassee