As TikTok creators seek alternatives amid the US ban saga, Meta launches generous Breakout Bonus program.

With the ongoing turmoil in the social media short-form video landscape, Instagram has spotted an opportunity and taken it. By offering substantial financial incentives, the Meta-owned platform has intensified its efforts to attract top talent from TikTok over to Reels.

According to reports, Instagram is capitalising on TikTok’s absence from major app stores by proposing lucrative deals to prominent TikTok creators. These offers include monthly bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 for those who agree to post exclusively on Reels before sharing their content on other platforms.

Speaking to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Paige Cohen confirmed the initiative, stating that the company has introduced a “Breakthrough Bonus program” enabling TikTok creators to earn up to $5,000 over three months for posting Reels on Facebook and Instagram. She added, “Over the coming months, we’ll also offer some TikTok creators content deals to help grow their communities on Instagram and Facebook.”

This strategy isn’t entirely new for Meta. In the past, the company has increased payouts to creators in an attempt to rival TikTok, though these boosts have not always been sustained. Additionally, Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, announced that the platform is developing a new video editing app to compete with CapCut, TikTok’s sister app owned by ByteDance. This comes as CapCut was also made temporarily unavailable amid the TikTok commotion.

Although President Trump ordered a 75 day extension on the TikTok ban, the fate of the platform is far from sealed. As such, creators need to seriously consider alternatives and diversify how they engage with their fans. Many creators have headed to Chinese-owned Xiaohongshu, or Rednote as it’s known internationally. The US Government is calling for a US buyer for TikTok, meaning that migrating to another Chinese platform may not be the safest move currently. The moral of this developing story appears to be that creators should avoid putting all their content creation eggs into one basket.

Only time will tell how Instagram’s aggressive push to dominate the short-form video space will reshape the competition and influence where creators choose to share their content.