Facebook will now pay you for streaming videos – here's how to cash in

Facebook
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

If you choose to use Facebook, you pay for free access to the social network by letting it show you ads (and, depending on your security settings, potentially giving up some of your privacy). You may feel that it's time you started to get something back from the site, and that'll soon be possible.

Facebook has announced that it plans to give users the option to charge for access to their live-streamed videos. This means that the next time you choose to go live, you could start earning money.

Facebook is not giving away many details at the moment, but the company says: "To support creators and small businesses, we plan to add the ability for Pages to charge for access to events with Live videos on Facebook – anything from online performances to classes to professional conferences".

At this stage it is not clear quite when the money-making option will be rolling out beyond the hint that it is going to be arriving "in the coming weeks". Facebook hasn't indicated whether it will be taking a cut from money people make from their video, but it would be safe to assume that a percentage will be payable to the company.

Shake your money-maker

This is not the only way it is possible to make money from a livestream. Facebook also operates its own virtual currency called 'Stars', and the company says that this is going to be expanded to more countries and more pages soon.

Users can buy Stars and then send them to creators they appreciate as a tip – but with each Star being worth just $0.01, a very large number of them will be needed to make anyone rich.

But it's not just possible to use Facebook to earn money for yourself. If you would like to raise money for charities and other good causes, you also have the option of adding donation buttons to live videos.

Via The Verge

Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
Freelance writer

Sofia is a tech journalist who's been writing about software, hardware and the web for nearly 25 years – but still looks as youthful as ever! After years writing for magazines, her life moved online and remains fueled by technology, music and nature.


Having written for websites and magazines since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and more, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from computing newbies to advanced users and business clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.


Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just about anything with a power button, but her particular areas of interest include security, tweaking and privacy. Her other loves include walking, music, her two Malamutes and, of course, her wife and daughter.


You can find her on Twitter and Mastodon.