Nigerian creators have expressed excitement at the newly launched Facebook monetisation tools, an innovation they said would spur them to create more impactful content.
Weeks ago, Meta announced the availability of two new monetisation features for eligible creators in Nigeria and Ghana on Facebook.
Meta said content creators in the two West African countries are eligible to earn money from Facebook from July 1, 2024.
The new features are In-Stream Ads on Facebook and Facebook Ads on Reels, which, according to Meta, would enable creators to earn money for creating original videos and cultivating community.
Facebook hosted Nigerian creators in Lagos where they highlighted how the newly launched tools would inspire their work, having given them a platform to reach a global audience.
The creators include Mark Angel, a content creator with more than 22 million on Facebook, David Obi, who runs the YorochiTv Facebook Community with 537k members, Aproko Doctor, a medical doctor, with more than one million followers and Gina Ehikodi with close to two million followers on her Foodies&Spice page.
“I wanted to share my humour with a larger audience, and Facebook’s reach made it an ideal platform” Mark Angel said.
Obi noted that his Yorochi TV was the ideal platform to grow an online community of next entertainment leaders.
Egemba said he found his niche after noticing misinformation about health-related issues on the internet.
“I tried to get into radio because I saw it as a medium to share information. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible, so I planned to use social media. I am glad I have made a great impact on people’s lives regarding their health,” he said.
Ehikodi said, “As I realised I could even get more audience with instant feedback on social media than what I got on TV, I became a full-fledged Facebook Creator.”
At a media roundtable event, Facebook spokespersons – Oluwasola Obagbemi, corporate communications manager, SSA; Rof Maneta, strategic partner manager, global partnerships, SSA; Betty Ansah, product communications manager, EMEA; and Maria Cubeta, communications manager for Facebook, gave insights into how creators can maximise the monetisation tools.
With the monetisation opportunity, Facebook insists that creators must be eligible and adhere to its community guidelines to maximise the tools.
“Adhering to the regulations and requirements for the monetisation programme does not nullify or remove the adherence to the community guidelines. All rules must be adhered to to gain from Meta’s monetisation,” said Oluwasola said.
Rof noted that creators who are beneficiaries of the monetisation can still be “de-monitised once they begin to act contrary to the guidelines” that includes use of prohibitive contents, unoriginal content and aggregating content.
He, however, noted that African creators have the capabilities to thrive using the tools.
For Ansah, “Facebook is for social discovery that opens your world in big and small ways” hence the need to spice things up for creators.
“We are especially focused on the younger generation aged 18-29 years old, as they are often the ones driving the changes in how social media should work,” Ansah said.
She explained that Facebook’s strategy is guided by the evolving use and expectations of social media among young adults and advances in AI technology.
