Douyin and TikTok Launch User-Paid “Reward” Function for Short Videos

Tech Planet reported on Tuesday that Douyin recently tested the “Reward” function, which is another way for short videos creators to make money through content.

Some netizens have shared a picture of the Douyin “Reward” function on social media, which suggests it is available among content creators who have enabled this function, and could help them earn more from video content. The rewards come in three amounts. Users pay Douyin coins in “Reward,” and they can see how much other users spend in their “Reward” page.

In addition, TikTok also recently launches the “Reward” function as a part of its newly-released Creator Next, designed to help creators with massive amounts of followers to commercialize content. Users reward content creators to show their appreciation, and creators receive 100% of the reward amount.

It is not a coincidence that Douyin and TikTok launched this function simultaneously. Low content quality is now a most urgent problem to address for all leading content platforms. Some users ridicule the homogenization of background music in video content in their feedback on Douyin.

The main reason for this is that leading creators are now vested interests, and they earn money through their large number of followers. Creators below the mid-tier, however, can hardly create greater profits through high-quality content because of their small fan base. To gain more traffic and maintain income, they choose to imitate popular short video content.

The introduction of the reward function enables creators to earn money from their content creation, enabling them to continuously create high-quality content, and contribute to a virtuous circle on the content in the video platform. In addition, rewards narrow the distance between creators and followers, establishing a sense of community and belonging.

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At present, the “Reward” function is available on WeChat, Kuaishou, Bilibili and several other platforms, and users have grown accustomed to paying to show their appreciation. For example, Bilibili enables UPowners and users to interact and communicate through “one button and three connections” (which means users can like, pay Bilibili coins and collect entertainment works by pressing the “like” for several seconds). And Bilibili users are also willing to pay Bilibili coins for UPowners who can create high-quality content.