Instagram has announced plans for new rewards for its top creators, but instead of cash, the social media platform will be offering a feature to boost users’ social status.
On Monday, Meta-owned Instagram announced its “Rings” award, which is “all about celebrating those who aren’t afraid to take creative chances and do it their way,” according to a new blog post from the company.
A panel of creatives, including Instagram head Adam Mosseri, designer Marc Jacobs, actress Yara Shahidi and YouTuber Marques Brownlee, nominated Instagram creators and voted for who they believe deserves the “Rings” award.
“This award is for the creators who don’t just participate in culture - but shift it, break through whatever barrier holds them back to realize their ambitions,” the blog post read.
The winners, who are yet to be announced, will receive a physical ring, designed by Grace Wales Bonner, and a digital ring on their Instagram profile.
Winners will see a gold ring around their profile picture when they post an Instagram story, and they will also be allowed to customize their profile backdrop color and “like” button.
“It’s more about a special visibility and sort of incentive for people to work towards a really cool elevated recognition,” Brownlee told CNBC.
The Instagram ring is reminiscent of YouTube’s Creator Awards, in which content creators get silver, gold and diamond plaques depending on how many subscribers they have.
The new recognition-based award comes after Meta stopped its Reels Play bonus, which paid content creators for views on Instagram’s short-form videos, in 2023 as it focused on “investing in a suite of monetization solutions to help creators earn steady streams of income,” a company spokesperson told Business Insider at the time.
"Creators can still monetize directly from Meta, and from the support of fans and brand partnerships, all of which have seen significant progress over the past year,” the spokesperson said.
YouTube and another Instagram competitor, TikTok, have their own monetary reward programs.
TikTok’s Creator Rewards Program pays users for posting “high-quality, original content.” And YouTube has its Partner Program, allowing creators to monetize on their content. YouTube has said it’s paid more than $70 billion to creators in the past three years.
