Photo-messaging app Snapchat has introduced Spotlight, a feature that will work much like TikTok, an app facing ban in countries including India and US.?
Through Spotlight, Snapchat will also pay content creators on the platform for their viral posts.
In essence, Spotlight will work just the way TikTok allows its users to create 60-second videos and upload it on the app for engagement. The duration for Spotlight videos is the same. And just like TikTok creators earn money through the app, Snapchat has announced a total of $1 million for the most popular creators on the app everyday through the end of 2020.
Spotlight has currently been launched in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, with a rollout to other countries expected soon.
The company also listed the terms and conditions applicable to any earning through Spotlight. These specify that the creators ¡°must be present in an Eligible Country at the time you submit your Snap to Spotlight¡± and that they must be ¡°at least 16 years old and have obtained the required parental or legal guardian consent(s).¡±
Snapchat says that it will use a proprietary formula to decide the earnings of the creators. This formula will maintain a threshold for the daily earning of a video as per the Pacific Time. Snapchat says that the payments for any particular day will be eligible if a Snap submitted to Spotlight ¡°achieves the Value Threshold during a day in the first 28 days after it is submitted to Spotlight.¡± Consider this as the ¡°Eligibility Period¡± for the Spotlight earning for any post.
Spotlight has an important distinction from similar short-video-making features in other apps. Snapchat says that content on Spotlight is moderated and hence, ¡°doesn¡¯t allow for public comments.¡± The company says this is in line with the ¡°Snapchat values.¡±
Snapchat is the latest in line to bring in the customised short-video feature to its users. Instagram launched ¡®Reels¡¯ while YouTube introduced its ¡®Shorts¡¯ feature earlier, both based on the concept of creating short videos for their communities. Several homegrown apps also emerged simultaneously with the ban on TikTok. Snapchat now aims to bring this experience in a personalised form to its own users.