How Do You Finally Get Paid for All the Snapchat Spotlights You Keep Uploading?

There are all sorts of ways that social media applications are doling out cash payouts to their top "influencers" for uploading content that keeps people coming back for more.

TikTok's got a pretty straightforward payout structure that probably isn't going to make you rich unless, you know, you're one of their top contributors. But how do Snapchat's Spotlight payments work?

Snapchat made big headlines when it revealed that it would be giving away $1 million a day to Snapchat users who constantly uploaded videos using its Spotlight feature in an effort to get more and more users on its platform. Instagram quickly launched a competitor to TikTok when the video-sharing application's user base blew up (Reels), but Spotlight seems to offer a bit more of an incentive.

And that incentive is big, big money. There are some people who've made life-changing amounts of money on Snapchat after using the Spotlight feature, like this teenager who became a millionaire shortly after Snapchat began offering the cash prize. Tons of other people began following suit in the hopes of grabbing themselves a slice of the Yellow and White Ghost application payout.

The thing is, though, that you're not going to get any money at all unless your Spotlight video generates at least $250 or more in a single 24-hour period by Pacific Standard Time.

All of the information is posted on Snap.com, but here are the relevant snippets from their FAQ page:

"To be eligible for a Payment, a Snap that you submit to Spotlight must have performed well enough in Spotlight during a single day calculated using Pacific Time, based on our payment formula, to have accumulated at least a $250 USD Payment in that day (“Value Threshold”). 

"If a Snap you submit to Spotlight achieves the Value Threshold during a day in the first seven days after it is submitted to Spotlight (“Eligibility Period”), then subject to all other criteria set forth in these Spotlight Terms, you will be eligible to receive payment for your services for that day."

There are also a bunch of eligibility rules surrounding payment. You need to be present in a country that legally doles out and the moolah, and you need to be at least 16 years old or receive consent from a guardian to receive the cash.

Team Snapchat will reach out to you with a notification of the money you're to receive and you will respond to the notification with all of the information that's requested of you from the application.

The way all of the legalese is delineated on Snapchat's website suggests a very "don't call us, we'll call you" attitude when it comes to payment and notification of said payment. So if the application isn't hitting you up with any good news via Team Snapchat, then chances are your Spotlights aren't exactly reeling in the views that'll warrant you getting paid.

In order to upload Spotlights, the first thing you're going to want to do is to make sure that you have the most up-to-date version of Snapchat. Then you're going to want to create a public profile, which you can learn to do by going here.

To create a Spotlight, you will then create a video as you normally would on Snapchat, but you will be given the option to publish the video as a Spotlight. Once it's uploaded, you can then choose to keep it as a highlight on your Snapchat's public profile. It's that simple.

Are you using Snapchat Spotlight for the chance to get some extra money? Or maybe you prefer its video presentation format over TikTok? Spotlight has already garnered Snapchat more than 100 million new users.