Social Media Recap: TikTok's Boosted Influencer Earnings, Rise of Long-Form Content and More

Social media is always evolving. To help marketers keep up with the news, here’s a roundup of the month’s biggest social media news and what it means for influencers and brands.

In March, TikTok dominated the news stream, but a few other platforms had big announcements too. Take a look at the news you should know:

TikTok ban moves through the House

The news: Rumbles of a TikTok ban have existed for months as lawmakers see the Beijing-based parent company ByteDance as a threat to American security.

In March, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a measure that gives TikTok owners a choice: Either sell the company within six months or lose access to app stores and web hosting services in the U.S.

However, the bill still has quite a bit of ground to cover before it goes into effect. It must be reviewed and approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president. If that happens, experts say TikTok would challenge the decision in federal court; a move that could take months or even years to sort out.

What it means for influencers and brands: While everyone should remain informed, it will take some time for this to play out.

Brands and influencers are far from needing to make any backup plans. For now, it’s best to press on as usual.

TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program moves out of Beta

The news: While headlines focus on TikTok’s potential ban, the social media platform is moving forward with significant initiatives that could have a big impact on influencers.

TikTok announced its monetization program is now out of beta and open to those who qualify. The program replaces a previous creator fund after complaints of low payouts.

To be eligible for the Creator Rewards Program, creators must:

Be at least 18 years old
Have at least 10K followers with a minimum of 100K views in the last 30 days
Have a personal account in good standing where the program is available

What it means for influencers: The revamped program rewards creators who share high-quality content that’s more than a minute long. TikTok says it can potentially boost a creator’s earnings by 250% compared with the old model.

Payouts, according to TikTok, are based on four core metrics: originality, play duration, search value, and audience engagement.

To learn more, TikTok encourages users to check out its Creator Academy for specifics about the program.

TikTok focuses on longer videos

The news: As TikTok ushers in its new creator program, the social media company also announced several statistics about the success of long-form content.

Back in 2022, TikTok started encouraging creators to share longer videos. Fast forward to March 2024, and the company says the TikTok community now spends 50% of their time watching videos longer than one minute on the app. Add a rewards program that favors longer videos, and you can see TikTok is pushing its boundaries into YouTube’s territory.

What it means for influencers and brands: Start weighing this shift into your content. While short-form videos won’t disappear, consider experimenting with longer videos and watch your metrics to gauge success.

Brands that have a presence on both TikTok and YouTube might start comparing metrics to see how long videos are received on one versus the other.

Instagram enhanced DM experience

The news: Instagram introduced a handful of new features to its direct messenger. Users can now:

Edit messages up to 15 minutes after sending
Pin conversations so they’re easier to track
Select personalized themes
Access improved security features

What it means for brands and influencers: DMs remain a popular form of communication between brands and influencers, which means these improvements will help streamline conversations.

Marketing managers who oversee influencers can pin conversations, providing easy access to them and offering a continuing thread of their chat history. Overall, it aids in influencer management.

BeReal is struggling, and funds are drying up

The news: BeReal, a trendy social media app that burst onto the scene in 2020, is struggling. Its members have declined from 70 million at its peak to 25 million, and experts predict the startup has just ten months of funding left, according to Social Media Today.

What it means for brands and influencers: To stay relevant, some brands and influencers may have dabbled with BeReal, but its existence is a cautionary tale. While brands and influencers should always remain informed and aware of new technologies, it’s important to remember they don’t always work out.

Like Clubhouse, Peach, Vine, and Google+, BeReal was hailed as the next big thing, but experts say they don’t see it surviving into 2025.

That’s a wrap of social media trends and updates in March 2024. Keep your eye out for next month’s breakdown of social news you need to know.