TikTok is not going down without a fight despite the ever-looming threat of being ban in the US. In this entire conflict that has taken a very nasty political turn, it can be easy to forget that this Social Media platform is a place for creators and artists to showcase their talent. TikTok is gently reminding us about this with their announcement about their $1 billion dollar TikTok creator fund.
Content creators, no matter what the genre or medium are still people who need to survive in this world and make a living. Many of these creators manage to establish themselves despite also having to work a 9 to 5 job and take care of their families. While YouTube has found ways to really give back to popular creators in the platform, TikTok creators were yet to see major financial benefits unless they had a massive enough followership. That’s set to change with the TikTok Creator Fund.
What is the TikTok Creator Fund?
The TikTok Creator Fund is basically a program to which eligible TikTokers in the US can apply to receive a certain sum of money. The fund was initially supposed to be for $200 million dollars but TikTok recently updated their stance and said that the fund will grow over $1 billion over the next 3 years in the US alone and more than double globally as well.
The basic premise around the fund is to allow an opportunity for young, ambitious creators on TikTok to make a career for themselves using the wildly popular Social Media platform and encourage other content creators to do so as well. This fund is TikTok’s way of giving back to its creators while simultaneously offering incentives to new creators to join the platform. Even if they don’t claim to do so, this kind of initiative does reflect that followership translates into currency in this day and age. The fund quantifies how much TikTok creators have riding on this app and just how much they also stand to lose both financially and in terms of followers.
What are the eligibility criteria for the TikTok Creator Fund?
To qualify for the additional earnings, the Creators must meet four conditions:
- 18 years or older
- Meet a baseline of 10,000 followers
- Have over 10,000 video views in the past 30 days
- Post original content in line with its community guidelines.
So far, only TikTok creators in the US who meet these fund requirements are invited to apply.
How to apply for TikTok Creator Fund
There has not been any kind of official application process disclosed by TikTok. In fact, in their announcement, TikTok also made sure to say that they would be sharing the process soon. However, few TikTok content creators who were successfully able to apply for the funding did share the process they had to follow. Here’s what we know about the process so far.
Firstly, you need to make sure that you qualify as per TikTok’s specified eligibility criteria that we mentioned above. Even after qualifying, you will need to get a notification from TikTok inviting you to apply for the creator fund on the TikTok app.
In the notification, you will be prompted to fill an application form. Then, TikTok will ask you if you want to join the fund and ask you to add your email information as well. Once you’ve done this, TikTok will take you to your freshly made Creator Fund Dashboard where you will be able to see the amount that is credited to your account.
TikTok Creator Fund payment mechanism
From what TikTok creators have shared, the fund amount takes three days to process. So even after the Creator Fund Dashboard is ready, you might see $0 in the beginning so don’t be surprised.
Once the amount is credited, you will see the balance reflect on your Creator Fund Dashboard. From what qualifying TikTokers are saying, Paypal will be the middleman between the creator fund and your bank account. So whenever you want to withdraw your allocated amount from the fund, you’ll be able to do so using PayPal.
What else to know about TikTok Creator Fund
We’ve also looked up a few other details that we hope might be helpful in providing you clarity regarding the TikTok creator fund.
Who has received funds from the TikTok creator fund?
TikTok shared the names of the first set of nineteen recipients for the TikTok Creator Fund. The creators range from renowned chefs like Matt Broussard (@acooknamedmatt ) to popular cosplayer Cheyenne Jaz Wise (@cheyennejazwise) for their contributions to the platform as well as the kind of influence and positivity they are spreading across the world.
You can take a look at the entire list here.
What about creators in other parts of the world?
In line with the $200 million funding that TikTok announced for the US, the platform also introduced a Creator fund specifically for European countries which will offer $70m in the first year and is expected to rise to a total of at least $30m within the next three years.
Tens of thousands of creators in Europe will be eligible to apply for the fund from September, provided that they meet the eligibility criteria that we mentioned above for the US creators.
How to increase my payment? How to be more popular?
Well, the core principle of attaining followers on any Social Media is creating good, engaging content consistently. For TikTok, you will need to create really fun, short video clips and post them frequently enough that TikTok’s algorithms pick it up.
For a more in-depth understanding of how to acquire popularity on social media, take a look at the article linked right below.
Related: How to get famous on Instagram Reels
If TikTok gets banned, what happens to TikTok Creator Fund?
Everyone is rife with speculation about this one. But we cannot confirm the fate of this app in the US yet. The decision regarding TikTok’s fate still lies with the government and at this point, it’s a waiting game.
It was high time that TikTokers received these kinds of benefits from the app. Creators who put their heart and soul into the content they’re producing and sharing with the world should be rewarded and this Creator fund is certainly a step in the right direction. How do you feel about it? Do let us know in the comments!
