TikTok has turned into GoFundMe for the cash-strapped: ‘Instead of money, the currency is attention’

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TikTokers raising money

You don’t have to be an influencer to cash in on the TikTok algorithm.

TikTokers are using the app to fundraise to pay off debt. AFP via Getty Images

A new wave of small creators are trying their luck at fundraising on the app, racking up dollars with views, as US household debt reaches an all-time high.

“So, I’ve done the math, and, apparently, in order for TikTok to pay off my student loans in one fell swoop, I would need 247 million people to watch this video for five seconds,” Jake Heisenburg, a creator and medical student, said in an über-viral video that has amassed over 22 million views.

He claimed that, in order to receive any funds from the platform, the video needed to be at least one minute long — so he ate a bowl of cereal for the camera for the remainder of the clip.

Heisenburg was one of the pioneers of the trend, posting a minute-long video to accumulate views and cash.

The video is part of a booming fad on the app, dubbed the “pay off debt trend,” under which creators — who meet TikTok’s criteria to glean any money from the social media giant — post videos to crowdsource for themselves.

“They’re banding together against the big man, TikTok,” Katya Varbanova, the CEO of Viral Marketing Stars, told Business Insider. “TikTok is this big billion-dollar corporation; let’s take its money.”

Thousands of clips have been uploaded to the platform claiming to be participating in said trend, however, per Insider, in order to qualify for funds from the Creator Rewards Program, creators must already have 10,000 followers and need to have already accumulated 100,000 views on videos within the last month.

“It’s popular because people can support their favorite creators or other random strangers, and it doesn’t cost them any money, just a few seconds of their time,” financial counselor and content creator Markia Brown told Insider.

Varbanova likened it to GoFundMe, “but instead of money, the currency is attention.”

In the comment sections, users comment en masse to boost engagement on the posts, hoping to push the content to more audiences and, therefore, earn the debt-burdened creators more cash.

The creators are taking advantage of the app’s rewards program, which pays influencers per view. AFP via Getty Images

“This would not be possible on Instagram, or Facebook, or YouTube,” said Varbanova.

“This is only something you can do on TikTok because of the unique TikTok algorithm. It prioritizes videos that have been proven to be watched all the way until the end by a group of people.”

But does it work?

Heisenburg, who dished that his loans amount to “low six figures,” posted an update days later revealing his earnings: $4,200.

While it was “lower than we anticipated,” he explained that the two factors determining the outcome were “qualified views and the RPM,” or revenue per 1,000 views, which varies depending on metrics, he said.

“That is more than I used to make at my old job in two months for one video,” he added, calling it a “borderline life-changing amount of money.”

“I literally can’t put into words how appreciative I am and how crazy it is that this even happened to me.”