A new study points out the biggest threat to the potential of TikTok as it lacks massive earnings for creators compared to rivals

Ever wonder how much TikTokers earn from their content?

Well, nowadays, social media does not only revolve around entertainment. It has several aspects that let people earn their living through online platforms. Among the most-used social platforms, TikTok is one of the trending apps that is going to surpass 1.5 billion active users ahead of 2022. Moreover, TikTok will soon be considered one of the top three applications worldwide.

The graph shared by MoneyTransfers shows high earnings by YouTubers rather than TikTokers. This is the biggest risk to the widespread popularity of TikTok as content creators are facing difficulty in generating profitable revenue on TikTok because of the limited monetization potential of the app. On the flip side, YouTube creators are earning a lot more. The top content creator, Mr. Beast earns substantially more for his content on YouTube than Charlie D’ Amelio on TikTok. You see, the problem is there. As YouTube has also launched its Short videos, more people are inclined toward watching them. Also, creators will easily shift towards YouTube and build their audience. Creators won’t prefer TikTok for posting their videos because they’re getting paid a lot more amount on YouTube.

On TikTok, you can’t allow ads to play before or during the video clips, unlike YouTube where monetization is easy, allowing creators to insert pre-roll, mid-roll, or end-roll ads. Creators earn money from TikTok by organizing brand sponsorship, promotion of songs, deals, and through the Creators Fund. However, only creators having more than 10,000 followers and more views can earn through it. Along with that virtual gifts gained from the audience in a Livestream is another monetization method. Commerce listings and sponsorship is essential for TikTok to earn money. On the other hand, things on YouTube are quite simple. Like you need to sign up for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) which gives access to app resources, set up a YouTube AdSense account and you’ll be allowed to monetize on YouTube and get a share in ad revenue. You do have to follow the rules and qualify for monetization, but in the end, you’ll get paid for your content creation.

The major concern is, TikTok creators. If the content creators would do the same as done by Vines’ creators, Logan Paul back in 2015. When the Twitter-owned Vine app was in the growth phase, some of the top creators called for a meeting with Twitter officials to discuss some plan related to revenue share and the performance of the app. The dialogue didn’t end with good notes. Although the top stars agreed to create twelve pieces of original content on a monthly basis and in return demanded to be paid $1.2 million for each one of them, Twitter denied their offer. As a consequence, those creators left the app and uploaded content on YouTube, where they built up a massive community and earned a handsome amount.

We hope that the Chinese-owned company, TikTok will introduce new opportunities for creators that open up more room for monetization. TikTok is still updating its policies and developing new tools for revenue outcomes but until then, this remains a noticeable threat to its potential.
Read next: New Study Shows Google and Meta Are Beating TikTok at Mobile User Acquisition
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