Are Instagram’s New Gifts for Creators Really a Gift?

Adam Mosseri took to Instagram today to announce a new feature: Gifts for creators.

Creators took to the comments to let Mosseri know their feelings on the new feature—with many sharing their frustrations about the direction Instagram is taking.

Gifts for Creators

The new feature is part of Instagram’s approach to helping creators make a living on Instagram. As of this week, all U.S. creators can turn on Gifts on all Reels—including ones posted in the past. 

So, how does this help creators monetize their Reels? In short, it comes from those viewing the content. 

Viewers can purchase stars to spend on “gifts,” which can be sent to any creator that has the Gifts feature turned on. Once creators get to a certain balance, they can cash them out for real money. 

Creators Share Their Frustrations

Mosseri’s Reel was soon flooded with comments from creators—and the overall response wasn’t one of gratitude. Take a look at some of the top frustrations shared in the comments. 

Many creators feel changes to the algorithm over the past several months have hurt their engagement, causing more harm than good to the accounts they’ve worked to build up. 

Others talked about the never-ending issues with spamming, fake accounts, and bots.

While creators outside of the U.S. want to know when the Gifts feature will be available to them, many focused on IG’s model of monetization.

It will be interesting to see which creators use the Gifts feature—and if they see any real profit from it. As always, BAM will keep you updated on new announcements from Instagram.