Meta Tests Invitation-Only Bonus Program for Creators on Threads

Meta is running a limited-time, invitation-only bonus program that lets creators earn money on the content they post on Threads.

The company began testing the program in March with creators in the United States and might expand it to other regions if it is successful, TechCrunch reported Monday (April 29).

Among the requirements listed on a Meta support page for the program are that a post must receive at least 2,500 views, according to the report.

“The Threads bonus is an invite-only bonus program that lets you earn money on your Threads content,” the Meta support page said. “If you are invited, you will receive a pop-up notification and an invite that appears in your Professional Dashboard on the Instagram app.”

The program is meant to increase engagement on Threads and might encourage users of Meta’s Instagram who have a substantial following to post more content on Threads, possibly bringing their followers with them to the newer platform, the report said.

Threads, which is Instagram’s text-based social media app, was launched in more than 100 countries in July 2023 and now has more than 150 million monthly active users.

The app is “growing well,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said April 24 during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“There are now more than 150 million monthly actives, and it continues to generally be on the trajectory I hoped to see,” Zuckerberg said.

Like Threads, several other platforms are rolling out new offerings for creators as well.

For example, YouTube announced April 9 that it added new shopping features for use by creators. These features allow creators to curate products around a common theme and build their own virtual store on YouTube; plan their next shoppable video by finding a list of Shopping partners, commission rates, promo codes and product sample offers; and tag their own products and merchandise across multiple videos at once.

In November 2023, payments network Klarna expanded its ad and marketing tools for creators, in part by bringing Creator Shops to the U.S. after debuting them in Europe. This offering lets the company’s network of creators launch their own storefronts on Klarna.com and gives them tools to “power a consistent shopping experience.”