Fixing the Creator Problem

Status Quo

Every minute, millions of posts are published on the Internet. Many of them are about potential ‘things to do’ like activities, places to go, or upcoming events. Usually, the creators of those posts do not own the content they create, and therefore, in most cases, do not directly profit from it. Since the data is uploaded to the databases of centralized companies like Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor, or WordPress, creators are at the mercy of their rules when it comes to getting compensated. Creators are of extreme importance to such companies as they attract traffic through the content they create, yet, they receive little to no revenue directly from the company. Centralized tech companies have built their success thanks in part by monetizing the traffic to their websites, through advertising and selling their user’s data to other companies.

Yet, their business model heavily relies on the traffic attracted through their platforms, which in all cases is driven by content that users create. It’s the images on Instagram, posts on Facebook, reviews on TripAdvisor, articles on WordPress, and whole sets of blogs featured on Google that bring users to each platform every day. Without these creations, advertisement space on the platform would not be sought after and thus would not be valuable. Regardless that the content creators are the ones that fuel the business model, they depend on technology companies when it comes to compensation for their content. By giving away their content, creators are heavily limited in the revenue they could potentially earn. In most cases, they are working for tech companies for little to no pay.

In the business world, it is pretty common that employees sign long-term incentive plans or get shares and therefore ownership of the company. However, the creators of content on social media don’t own a part of the company, nor do they really own the content. The platforms are closed ecosystems which ultimately also means that they potentially hold back innovation by independent developers. In the cases where they do get some compensation from technology companies, creators need to capture a high level of traffic that will ultimately generate revenue through advertisers leasing space. For this to happen, they need to spend time and resources promoting it. It is only after they grow their audience that they can monetize their content, either directly on their respective platforms or indirectly through sponsors and partnerships.