Snapchat has now launched an in-app feature known as Spotlight which is positioned to compete directly with the short-form content platform TikTok. As we all know, coming out of the barracks this late in the battle will prove something of a challenge – which is why there’s a rather enticing monetary incentive for users to actually engage with Spotlight: over US$1 million daily awards for “the most entertaining” posts from now until the end of 2020 (shared between multiple individuals or potentially just one).
“Submit your best video Snaps to Spotlight for the opportunity to earn a share of more than $1 million that we’re distributing to creators every day,” reads a Snapchat blog post.
“We designed Spotlight to entertain our community while living up to Snapchat values, with our community’s wellbeing as a top priority. Spotlight content is moderated and doesn’t allow for public comments.”
Popularity will be determined by a “proprietary formula” which accounts for variables such as unique views, viewing time, favourites, user engagement to messages, and so forth… but with an added twist.
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According to Snapchat, winners won’t necessarily be selected from users with public accounts nor established content creators, i.e. influencers, celebrities, publications. Obscuring profile names from Spotlight posts, this will be the closest thing to a meritocracy you’ll find online, with a clear objective to “prevent famous users from coasting on mediocrity” while encouraging everyday people to simply create the best content they can.
But before you start thinking about being a loose unit for that US$1 million payday, you may want to check out the company’s content guidelines. Copyright infringement, spreading false information or conspiracy theories, misleading content, hate speech, explicit or profane content, bullying, harassment, violence, and other sorts of illegal behaviour is obviously out of the question. So maybe reconsider “choppin’ loops in the farkin Volvo“, however funny it may be (or viral in value).
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Snapchat’s Spotlight is now available in the following countries with a larger-scale rollout coming soon:
- US
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- UK
- Ireland
- Norway
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Germany
- France
