TikTok is overhauling how it pays creators of viral filters and effects

TikTok is making major changes to its Effect Creator Rewards program — its creator fund for the people who make the app’s viral filters and effects. In a recent blog post, TikTok outlined the upcoming changes, which will include a lower threshold to join, and a new payment structure.

The Effect Creator Rewards program was first announced in May with roughly $6 million set aside to pay the creators of effects and filters. Prior to the program’s launch creators were essentially making filters, mini-games, and more for little to no reward — despite being integral to the success of the platform.

Creators were previously required to have their filters used in at least 500,000 videos. That threshold has now been lowered, requiring creators to have just five filters published on the platform with at least three of them being used in 1,000 videos. This may open up the program to smaller creators.

The program will also expand geographically. Creators in Brazil, Australia, Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam are now eligible. While this is a step towards more inclusivity, there’s no indication of when the program may become open globally.

TikTok went on to announce it would be taking a new approach to payouts. Under the new rules, the pay rate will now be variable instead of a flat fee for all creators. TikTok says the payment each creator receives will be based on a few things, such as “the region where the video was created.”

As of right now, it remains unclear whether this will be a good or bad thing for creators. If TikTok takes local cost of living into account, we could see creators in the United States pocketing a proportionally larger amount of the $6 million fund than those in developing nations for the same amount of effort.