Facebook is reportedly planning to pay high-profile influencers to join its new TikTok rival Reels, which is set to launch in the United States as part of Instagram in early August after months of testing.
The news comes at the same time as the United States is reportedly considering banning TikTok.
Facebook is keen to offer a rival to the service and has been testing Reels in countries such as India for the past several months, and plans a US-wide rollout next month.
To attract top talent to the network, Facebook is paying TikTok influencers to Reels instead, which should help Facebook immediately access popular social media stars’ fanbases.
TikTok is now used by more than two billion users around the world and has enjoyed impressive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an attempt to compete, Facebook is asking influencers to sign nondisclosure agreements and will pay them a fee per video to upload their content to Reels before it appears on other apps including Twitter and TikTok.
It’s not the first time that the two social networking rivals have fought – earlier in the year, TikTok ran adverts on Facebook and Instagram, and since Facebook’s announcement to offer influencers a fee for their content, has confirmed a $200 million fund for creators.
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