Building the Middle Class of the Creator Economy

-Allow creators to capitalize on superfans:

What is certainly true is this: Creator platforms flourish when they provide opportunity for anyone to grow and succeed.

Launching a new platform, Zhu said, was like starting a new country: Getting users to move from an established network that had an ossified economy and social classes to a new network requires the possibility of success—the lure of the American Dream. Furthermore, the new social network had to create upward mobility for all users, to “make sure the... See more

Some inequality is inherent in the nature of the passion economy: supply is heterogeneous and non-substitutable, and the trust and affinity that creators build with their audiences should be celebrated. But platforms—from established to brand new—can do more to strengthen the creator middle class and broaden the path to success.

-Create passive (or almost-passive) income opportunities for creators: While there is significant revenue concentration, for all creators, the sales represent passive income (after products are initially created), allowing creators to scale earnings without scaling time.

-Serve heterogeneity in user preferences & empower niche

Societies and platforms flourish when there is a path for everyone to have upward mobility, achieve financial security, and learn and grow. The beautiful thing is, in the real world as well as in the digital world, it’s up to us to build this path.

-Provide capital investment to up-and-coming creators. Platforms that enhance the predictability of income and provide upfront financing to creators are building on this precedent.

Ever since Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson first published his “Long Tail” theory in 2004, the idea has been endlessly reinforced, contradicted, and debated. He argued that the internet’s removal of physical limitations (local audiences, scarce shelf space) would empower niche products and creators to flourish.

-Decouple creator payouts from audience demographic: Hank Green writes of the Creator Fund, “people with wealthy audiences don’t automatically make more than people with poorer audiences.” The “radical egalitarianism” of the Creator Fund stems from rewarding creators that generate the highest engagement, rather than those that generate the highest ... See more