There are lots of ways to make money on a social platform: sponsored content, affiliate marketing, ecommerce, ad revenue share. One of the most notable recent trends is that creators are increasingly being paid directly by platforms.
YouTube launched its Partner Program in 2007, creating opportunities for creators to earn a share of ad revenue. TikTok was the first platform to pay directly based on the amount of engagement. And now Meta, Snapchat, and X/Twitter do it, too. Such monetization programs create a direct financial relationship between a platform and a user. It’s important for investigators to know if an account is getting paid directly by a platform. Unfortunately, it’s a bit tricky.
Here's a breakdown of different ways to identify monetized accounts on social platforms, including a detailed look at a useful new analysis tool from What To Fix, a nonprofit.
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