The multi-billion dollar industry of game streams, beauty bloggers, podcast producers, sports influencers, newsletters and other social media stars that make up the “production economy” began long before 2021. However, in 2021, more platforms than ever before poured money and resources into independent content producers.
In 2021, companies that had previously shown little interest in attracting “influencers” or building relationships with content creators began investing in earning money for them, according to Angget. Even manufacturer-friendly companies have dramatically increased their investments with new funds and tools.
Twitter, which previously had only one monetization feature, decided to change its entire platform around content producers. The developers of this social network have created the Super Follows feature so that users can create an environment that requires a subscription to enter. Of course, this was not the end of the story; Because other options, such as Ticketed Spaces, were added to Twitter, each offering new features to content creators. The company even began building a newsletter platform.
SnapChat, which once shunned the idea of working with influencers, recently said it had allocated more than $ 250 million to manufacturers for its Spotlight feature; A feature that launched at the end of 2020. Even some of the biggest social media stars have their own apps on Snapchat Discover.
All of these changes have made Facebook more interested in influencers and content creators; The same people who have been looking for more features on this platform for a long time. Mark Zuckerberg He has repeatedly cited builders as one of the company’s top priorities, saying he plans to invest $ 1 billion in tools by the end of 2022. Since then, Facebook and Instagram have introduced a number of developer-focused updates and monetization-related features.
Platforms that were not traditionally associated with influencers poured their money into manufacturers and their revenue characteristics. Pinterest set up a $ 500,000 fund for builders and made its first monetization tool. LinkedIn even announced that it had set aside $ 25 million for the work. Clubhouse added Tipping feature. Meanwhile, Tumblr has developed a subscription service for its bloggers.
Even YouTube, the most powerful platform for monetization, has made “the growth of the content producers’ economy” its top priority in 2021. The company has earmarked $ 100 million just for Shorts, a feature similar to TickTock. TickTock itself adds new monetization features to its app.
With so much money and capital, it’s no surprise that the number of content producers is growing. A report from Stripe, which is responsible for paying for dozens of influencer platforms, shows that the number of manufacturers has increased by more than 48% in 2021 compared to 2020. According to the company, this statistic is only a part of the whole ecosystem. The company wrote:
If the recent growth of the developer economy continues, these fifty platforms could support more than 15.5 million content producers in five years.
This growth is not limited to core platforms. According to The Information, the number of startups responding to content creators and their needs has increased, with more than $ 3.7 billion in funding flowing to “producer-focused startups.”
One of the main drivers of increasing activity in this field and increasing the focus of large companies on it was the corona virus epidemic. Before the disease, producers were also making money; But it can be said that Corona accelerated the process of progress. Earlier this year Lee Jin“Atelier Ventures, the founder of a venture capital firm that invests in a producer economy,” said in an interview:
I think the corona epidemic plays a key role in advancing the productive economy in both the “necessity” and the “choice” dimensions. “Necessity” means that many people have had to find alternatives to their offline work; For this reason, they turned to online platforms to survive. We also had a lot of free time during the Corona epidemic, when we were forced to get stuck in our homes. I think a lot of people spent that time producing content. This means that people “chose” to do so.
The corona pandemic seems to have caused people to change the way they think about what they were doing. Last year, companies faced labor shortages and faced many problems. These conditions make it difficult to understand why some, especially young people, may want to take a different path. Zuckerberg describes the changes as follows:
People can make a living by being creative and doing the things they love to do instead of the things they have to do. Content creators deserve a “reward” for their work.
As Jane et al. Have pointed out, major platforms have not suddenly fallen in love with manufacturers and are not going to invest in them just because they enjoy their creativity. Rest assured that large companies consider their profits first. The reason for their support for producers is the fact that the economy will ultimately benefit them.
Content creators create a lot of interaction on their chosen platforms. If the biggest stars of an app leave it, they can take a large number of users with them. They can also help Facebook generate revenue beyond advertising.
Zuckerberg has pledged nothing to reduce their income by 2023; But even a relatively small commission can eventually amount to a considerable amount. Twitter can also set aside a portion of the revenue from purchased Super Follow subscriptions as a commission; Of course, there is still time until the day when many people around the world use this feature.
Also, content creators are considered to be very important elements in attracting new users and keeping existing platforms attractive. For example, these people can take steps to prevent or at least neutralize the “serious threat of declining teen Facebook users.” Snapshot cites Spotlight as an important resource for growth, and even LinkedIn says manufacturers can help users get better at what they do.
Still, Jane’s words about big manufacturers and companies should not be forgotten. According to him, it is the large social media platforms that ultimately benefit content producers. He said:
Nothing is done out of altruism, and eventually the producers will strengthen the companies and make them more profitable.
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