Instagram has put two of its recent, invite-only "bonuses" programs on ice.
Bonuses are a part of Facebook's $1 billion pledge to invest in creators through 2022. The concept is simple: Facebook-owned Instagram is incentivizing creators to post content on the platforms with cash rewards.
First came bonuses for Badges, Instagram's tipping tool on the platform's livestreaming features, which was released in June. Select creators had the opportunity to earn up to $500 by going live, using Badges, and meeting three milestones. After hitting those three milestones (and getting those cash bonuses), creators could earn an extra $250 if they continued to go live at least 15 minutes a week, consecutively, for four weeks — lasting "until the program ends."
Then the platform announced two more bonuses in July: a "Reels Summer Bonus" and a one-time sign-up bonus for enrolling in Instagram's ad revenue share program for long-form videos (previously called IGTV Ads).
Now, as of October, two of those initial bonuses — for Badges and IGTV ads — have reached their expiration date and are currently "on pause," Instagram confirmed to Insider.
The company said that's by design.
"Bonus programs will be seasonal, evolving and expanding over time," Facebook wrote in a blog announcing the company's billion-dollar investment.
Instagram and Facebook said the platforms intend to release more programs between July and the end of 2021. And that could potentially include renewed versions of bonuses that are currently paused.
For instance, Instagram's "Reels Summer Bonus," which was paying select creators up to $500 for reaching 200,000 Reels views on Instagram, came to a close this summer. But with the launch of Reels on Facebook last month, the platform has brought back a Reels bonus. This time, it is paying out up to $800 for 1.77 million views, according to documentation viewed by Insider.
Although these bonus programs themselves aren't ongoing, permanent fixtures, like YouTube's Partner Program or TikTok's Creator Fund, some creators are still cashing in while they can.
Austen Tosone, a micro influencer with 12,000 followers, told Insider she earned $750 through the Badges bonus program. Insider verified those earnings with screenshots of Tosone's earnings dashboard on Instagram.
By the end of August, however, that bonus program came to a close for her, Tosone said.
