Snapchat takes on TikTok with viral video feature Spotlight

The battle for Gen Z is fast heating up, with Snap now paying its users more than $1m a day for their viral content.

The new format called Spotlight will allow Snapchatters to see content from influencers and other members of the network popular with young smartphone users. (Photo by Handout / Snap Inc. / AFP)

Snapchat is directly taking on Chinese-owned juggernaut TikTok, launching a videosharing feature on Tuesday and declaring it will reward its users from a pool of more than $US1 million per day for their content if it goes viral.

Snapchat‘s new feature, dubbed Spotlight, will expand the company’s focus from tight-knit communication between friends, to viral video sharing.

“We wanted to find a way to celebrate and reward the creativity of our community,” a Snap spokesman told The Australian. ”They were often taking [their content] to other services, where they could have it really go viral, or have it shown to millions and millions of people.

“Other environments don‘t have the same values, or our underlying philosophies around positivity.”

The spokesman added that Snapchat is trying to provide a different approach to social media, which can often be dominated by influencers and follower counts, rather than genuinely engaging content.

As an antidote, Snapchat is offering a pool of $US1 million that it will share to its users every day through the end of 2020. That money will be divvied up based on the number of views a Snap video gets, rather than the amount of followers someone has. The company said Snapchatters must be 16 or older, and where applicable, obtain parental consent to earn money from their Snaps.

Snapchat on November 23, 2020 unveiled a new curated short-form video feed in a stepped up challenge to social media rivals like TikTok. The new format called Spotlight will allow Snapchatters to see content from influencers and other members of the network popular with young smartphone users. (Photo by Handout / Snap Inc. / AFP)

The company is confident that its approach to rewarding creativity – rather than sheer number of followers – will lead to a healthier social media landscape.

“We hope that our broccoli is more appealing than their dessert,” the spokesman said of rival social media companies. ”We want to show people that there‘s another way. We take these pieces of value we see other platforms delivering, and put them through our values and philosophy to try and make them even better.”

Snapchat, which is based in California, said an algorithm will help serve the content to users, but the content will also be moderated by humans who will take down videos that violate its rules around hate speech, bullying and conspiracy theories.

The Snaps on Spotlight won’t feature public comments, and the profiles on Spotlight will be locked to private by default, which the company says will encourage a safer atmosphere for its young users.

“The business is doing tremendously well, everything is super healthy and we‘re really excited by the engagement that we’re seeing especially internationally,” the spokesman said. ”The main thing is … we are laser focused on delivering value to our community. There are so many things that will try to distract you, but we have remained super focused on that value delivery to our community.”