Facebook wants up to 30% of fan subscriptions vs Patreon's 5%

It cut off game developers from viral channels, inadequately warned Page owners their reach would drop over time, decimated referral traffic to news publishers and, most recently, banished video makers from the feed.If Facebook wants to win creators’ trust and the engagement of their biggest fans, it may need a more competitive offering with larger limits on its power.

Reverse-engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong generated this screenshot showing the option for Creator Accounts to hide their contact info or profile category.

Fellow code digger Ishan Agarwal gave TechCrunch an exclusive look at the Instagram code that shows the Creator Accounts are “Best for public figures, content producers, artists, and influencers.” Creator Accounts give users “more advanced insights and reach more people with promotions,” “more growth tools” and “a new inbox that makes it easier to manage message requests and connect with fans.”

Facebook tells me that it hasn’t finalized its percentage cut, though the terms permit it to take as much as 30 percent. That would qualify, given Facebook tells me its rake will be in line with industry standards and creators will retain the majority of their earnings.

But whatever cut it takes will be after processing fees and the 15 to 30 percent tax Apple and Google levy on iOS and Android in-app purchases. At least with a dedicated site like Patreon, creators know the platform can’t abuse them without the threaten of ruin.

Original article