TikTok's new “pay off debt” trend has creators posting videos to crowdsource themselves.
Thousands of videos have been uploaded to the platform to qualify for funding from the Creator Rewards program. According Business InsiderCreators of the show must meet the following requirements: at least 10,000 followers and receive at least 100,000 views in the last month.
“They are uniting against the big man, TikTok,” Viral Marketing Stars CEO Katya Varbanova explained to the outlet. “TikTok is this huge multi-billion dollar corporation; Let’s take your money.”
The trend went mainstream after creator and medical student Jake Heisenburg went viral for figuring out how to game the Creator Program system. In his video, which garnered more than 22 million views, he shared his discovery with his fellow TikTok users.
“So, I did the math and apparently, for TikTok to pay off my student loans in one fell swoop, I would need 247 million people to watch this video for five seconds,” he explained, adding that he would qualify for the funds he needed to make his video It will last at least a minute. For the rest of the clip, she ate from a bowl of cereal.
Under videos like Heisenburg's, viewers flock to and comment under these “paying off debt” clips to drive engagement and get the videos boosted on the platform for more views.
“This wouldn't be possible on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube,” Varbanova noted, adding that TikTok was essentially like GoFundMe “but instead of money, the currency is attention.”
“This is just something you can do on TikTok thanks to TikTok's unique algorithm,” he continued. “Prioritize videos that have proven to be watched to the end by a group of people.”
In the end, the gamble paid off for Heisenburg, but not in the way he expected. Days later, he revealed to eager viewers that he won only $4,200. He had previously revealed that his student loans were in the “low six figures.”
Although the number was “lower than we anticipated,” he explained that there were two factors — “qualified views and RPM,” revenue per 1,000 views — that determined how much the platform would award him.
“That's more than I used to make at my old job in two months for a video,” he continued, grateful for what he described as an “almost life-changing amount of money.”
He added: “I literally cannot put into words how grateful I am and how crazy it is that this happened to me.”
As America's cost of living crisis reaches a fever pitch and average household debt reportedly hits an all-time high, people are getting creative and using tools like TikTok to generate income.
