Snap launched a clone of a TikTok feature called Spotlight which lets users post and view short videos in a vertical feed.

The company is using a complex algorithm to pick which videos get displayed in the new feature on the app.

Putting their money where their video is
What’s a bit more interesting is that Snap is offering up to $1 million a day to pay users to post videos on Spotlight.  It’s a fairly simple way to get users into the habit of posting videos to the new feature and turning it into a habit.

"Surfacing viral content and rewarding the creators that conceived that content is a sensible way to sustain its business, particularly in the light of the growing threat from TikTok and others,” according to Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight.  It’s all about viral content and keeping users engaged. 

Charli’s got 100 million
TikTok is way ahead of the game –especially after the news about Charli D’Amelio.  In case you haven’t heard, that’s the name of the first TikTok user to hit 100 million followers.  And it was done in record time.  She started posting videos in May 2019…it took 14 years for a channel on YouTube to hit 100 million followers.

The ads are coming.  According to a Snap spokesperson, there will be no ads on the stream to start, but will eventually launch ads on the new feature, just like TikTok.  Of course, Snap has always had the problem of only having a young user base on its platform.  TikTok has done better on the age front.  According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, TikTok teens were often following accounts from senior citizens.  Also, the AARP reported TikTok has also attracted a middle-aged crowd.

If you remember that far back, Snap was once the innovator with the concept of the disappearing post.  Now, Snap is the copycat, as are many of the other big social media players as commoditization and homogenization of successful app features becomes commonplace.

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