On November 6, TikTok announced that it will sunset the $2 billion Creator Fund, which was established in 2020 to pay creators on the platform for viral videos. Starting December 16, if creators wish to be compensated directly by TikTok, they will need to enroll in the Creativity Fund, which only pays creators for videos longer than 60 seconds—the equivalent of long-form for many on the platform. For creators interviewed by Fortune, the end of the Creator Fund validates their fears that the platform does not truly value their short-form content, and that the longevity of careers in social content creation remains uncertain.
“I'm always anxious about being a professional creator long-term, just because there's really no line of sight into what the future holds,” says Alexa Santos, a Fort Lauderdale–based food and recipe social creator, who runs TikTok account @alexawhatsfordinner, which has over 16 million likes. She believes her viral recipe videos are best between 15 to 20 seconds in length, but is forcing herself to stretch them to 60-plus seconds for eligibility in TikTok’s Creativity Fund, as it’s now a primary way for creators to get compensated by the platform outside of live-streaming and shopping. “It's always stressful when things change on us; you have to change what you're doing and alternate how you're creating content.”
