Snapchat is rolling out a new feature on Monday dubbed “Spotlight,” which puts entertaining user-generated content front and center — and they’re willing to pay big bucks to users who come up with creative snaps.
Here’s the deal: When Snapchatters go to send a picture or video, they’ll now see an option to send their post to Spotlight. If their snap is picked, it’ll be featured in the new Spotlight tab, which users can locate at the bottom of their screens using Snapchat’s navigation bar. The Spotlight tab will be Snapchat’s new go-to spot for users to check out the best pictures and videos of the day, according to Snap Inc.’s moderators.
Snap will then pay out $1 million per day to the users who have been picked for that day’s Spotlight tab. (Users will be paid based on how many unique views their snap receives. There is no set number on how many users will get paid out each day, according to a Snap rep. Users need to be 13 years or older to submit snaps to Spotlight, and 16 or older to get paid for their content.) And it doesn’t matter if you have 1 follower or 1 million followers, according to a person familiar with the feature; Snap just wants to highlight great content. Whether you’re a celebrity or not won’t matter. The goal is to lower the bar for users to get noticed for creating compelling posts.
The feature is debuting Monday in the U.S., as well as several other markets, including Canada, Australia and the U.K., before hitting additional countries later on. The Spotlight tab will be curated by Snap employees and won’t feature public comments.
Spotlight’s launch comes as Snapchat has enjoyed a resurgent 2020. Last month, Snap reported it added another 11 million users during Q3, while also increasing revenue 52% year-over-year. Those gains have sent Snap’s stock flying higher in recent weeks, closing at $44.29 per share on Friday. Before October, the company’s share price had never closed above $30 per share.