Content creators urged to be ethical to benefit from the booming Creative Economy

Content creators have been urged to uphold ethical standards to positively impact the society and earn a living from the rapidly growing creative economy.

More than 500 digital influencers who converged at the University of Nairobi for the annual International Creator Day celebrations heard that the creative industry has a huge potential to transform lives through employment and wealth creation opportunities for the youth.

Speakers at the event noted the country is well positioned to benefit from the global creative economy due to her young population demographic, increase in internet penetration and access to smart devices.

Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. John Orindi, noted that, ‘The digital landscape has opened up a world of possibilities that transcends boundaries, offering our creative minds the chance to not only earn a sustainable income but also to foster entrepreneurship and drive business growth. It is our belief that the youth, both within and outside the university, are uniquely positioned to harness these opportunities and propel our nation towards becoming a global beacon for content monetization.

Meta Public Policy and Advocacy Manager, Grace Muyonga, said only creators who adhere to the company’s community standards policy would benefit from the expansion of the company’s monetization programme set to begin in June. Meta, which recently announced its monetization programme for Kenya and other five African countries, owns Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram social media polatforms.

Muyonga disclosed the firm will introduce in-stream ads feature on Facebook as part of the monetization programme and warned that creators who fail to abide by its content policy would be blocked from the platform.

“Our community standards policy is very clear on content. Those who post sexually explicit, or content that border on violence and hate-speech, or manipulate the system by creating fake pages will have their content pulled down and blocked from benefiting from the monetization programme,” she said.

Safaricom’s head of consumer segments, Ms. Flavia Othim, observed that influencers occupy an enviable space in the society as they have the freedom to impact by telling stories that engage, inspire, entertain, and educate. 

Flavia said the telecoms firm through its platform, Safaricom Hooks, will nurture and support the aspirations of the youth and transform their lives through technology, career and cultural development opportunities.

The International Creator Day is global initiative established to celebrate the significant contribution that digital content creators have made to the lives of people around the world. It acknowledges the entrepreneurship of career creators and their ability to inspire, entertain, and educate communities worldwide.

The International Creator Day Kenya Coordinator and the Kenya Social Media Awards (SOMA) Director, Mr. Martin Muli, called on the Government to create an enabling environment for creators to thrive and contribute to the development of the economy.

Muli warned against policies that would restrict full exploitation of creative talent and skills, saying such a move would be detrimental to the growth of the creative economy.

“Instead of talking about banning certain social media platforms because of the content we need to have a conversation on how we can support young talent so that we have a vibrant industry that will propel this country to greater heights of development,” said Muli.

He disclosed that SOMA will work with other industry enablers to support content creators through skills development and mentorship across all universities.

Kenya’s digital content creator economy has grown significantly over the past few years with creators monetizing and sharing their work with larger audiences.

Memes, videos, vlogs, livestreams, blogs, courses, photos, comics, games, infographics and apps are examples of content that have become popular as content making continue to become a sought-after profession in the country.

The creator economy has mushroomed and is expected to grow even more in the coming years, according to a study published by Goldman Sachs in 2023.

The research shows the 50 million global creators will grow at a 10-20% compound annual growth rate during the next five years. Only about 4% of global creators are deemed professionals, meaning they pull in more than US$100,000 a year

Creators earn income primarily through direct branding deals to pitch products as an influencer; via a share of advertising revenues with the host platform; and through subscriptions, donations and other forms of direct payment from followers. Brand deals are the main source of revenue at about 70%, according to survey data.