It was only a matter of time until social app Snapchat eventually launched something that would challenge TikTok and it looks like that day has finally come. Spotlight is the new feature within the platform itself and it’s hard to describe it without mentioning its erstwhile rival. So yes, basically it’s like TikTok but on Snapchat. But the main difference is that they are trying to entice creators to use it by offering actual financial incentives to the most popular ones.
Snapchat used to be the social platform that everyone wanted to copycat. And a lot of them did. But the arrival of TikTok to a global market, despite all the problems they’re currently experiencing with countries like India and the U.S, it remains a powerhouse. So Snapchat has decided to take a page out of their book and create their own in-app feature that would let users create light, fun, and hopefully viral content.
To entice users to actually use the feature, Snapchat is offering $1 million every day to be divided among the most popular creators that submit their Spotlight Snaps. The number of subscribers doesn’t really play a factor here per se but of course that’s an advantage if what you’re battling for is unique views. To submit your Snaps, you have to tap on Spotlight when posting. You can’t upload videos from other apps (like TikTok) and you should of course follow their content guidelines.
But if you don’t plan on creating your own content, you can just sit back and watch others make hopefully fun and funny stuff. You will see a dedicated Spotlight tab in the app and it will serve you content that it thinks you’ll like based on what you’ve viewed previously. Videos can last up to 60 seconds and content is moderated and there will be no public comments.
Spotlight is now available in 11 countries namely the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France. It will be expanding to more countries eventually. And with TikTok’s fate still up in the air in the US, Snapchat will want to snap up that audience looking for or creating short-form, viral video content.
