Perverse Incentives are Poisoning the Well

Think creator payouts are lifting up talent? Think again. Social media’s reward systems are driving creators into a race for views, churning out content at all costs. Here’s how it’s breaking the creator economy.

Perverse incentives are the hidden traps lurking in "well-intentioned" policies—unintended consequences that sabotage the very goals they’re meant to achieve. These incentives create feedback loops that drive behaviors against their original purpose, propelling systems into destructive, self-defeating cycles.

Social media is laced with perverse incentives that are as extreme as they are destructive, embedded deep within creator payment programs and engagement algorithms. These systems claim to reward creators, boost content, and drive engagement, but in reality, they ignite a brutal race: quantity over quality, popularity over substance. And let’s be fucking clear—it’s a race straight to the bottom.

Here’s how it plays out: platforms reward whatever goes viral, sacrificing thoughtful, genuine posts in the process. Creators are pressured to churn out attention-grabbing, sensational content just to stay visible. The natural and entirely predictable outcome is a collection of ass-first newsfeeds full of crass, monotonous, and downright ugly content—a relentless stream of shallow, sensational material that erodes trust and drags down content standards across the board.

In their relentless pursuit of profit and endless engagement, social media platforms are building an PVP ecosystem that values clicks over connection, jeopardizing their own communities and poisoning their own wells, while treating users like brainless cattle.

The Rise of Creator Payment Programs

In a bid to lock in creators, social media platforms have unleashed a range of lucrative payment programs. YouTube leads with a 55% ad revenue share, paying out over $9 billion to creators in 2022 alone—a staggering sum that sets the industry standard. Not to be outdone, TikTok launched its $1 billion Creator Fund in 2020 and recently doubled down with its Creativity Program Beta, which some say boosts earnings up to 20 times the previous structure.

Meta, owning Facebook, Threads and Instagram, also promises a 55% ad revenue split but keeps exact payout details shrouded in mystery. They sweeten the pot with a $1 billion fund aimed at pushing Reels content and thousands of dollars paid out to Threads creators through the Threads bonus program. Snapchat enters the mix with direct payments from $1,000 to $25,000 per creator, while Twitter, now rebranded as X, offers Payouts, Super Follows and tipping as monetization options. Along with anything else Musk can dream up in his allegedly Ketamine fueled "brainstorms."

These programs are a clear admission from social media giants: creators hold the keys to audience engagement. By paying creators directly, platforms hope to spark more frequent posting and keep creators loyal. In theory, it’s a win-win—platforms get the engagement they crave, and creators gain a steady income stream. But while these payouts have fueled a surge in content, they’ve also unleashed a wave of fucked up motivations, where the push to “create” prioritizes sensationalism and quantity over genuine innovation and depth.