Facebook Wants to Court Creators. It Could Be a Tough Sell.

The social network is aiming to be a destination for creators and their viral memes. But TikTok and YouTube got there first.

SAN FRANCISCO — Over the past 18 months, Chris Cox, Facebook’s top product executive, watched with surprise as Instagram came alive in ways he hadn’t seen before. As young people looked for ways to express themselves digitally in the pandemic, Mr. Cox became captivated by the content of creators like Oumi Janta. The Senegalese roller-skater, who is based in Berlin, shot to fame when she posted videos to her Instagram account of herself dancing in skates to techno music. Her viral success — and that of others — made Facebook, which owns Instagram, realize it needed to do more to court creators, Mr. Cox said. The problem was that Facebook was late. Many creators — who make and profit off meme-y online content — have already flocked to rival platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which invested in digital tools for influencers far earlier and gave them ways to earn money off their viral videos.