• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

As Meta dials back cash payouts for creators, the tech giant is launching an awards program focused on celebrating 25 Instagram creators who impact culture on the platform.

The “Rings” program features a panel of judges that includes director Spike Lee, designer Marc Jacobs, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, YouTuber Marques Brownlee and more, who will award winning creators with a custom physical ring made by English fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner.

Rings winners will also see a digital golden ring appear around their Instagram profile image, alerting their followers about the award, and will have the added ability to design a custom “Like” button appearing when users like posts on their feed.

“This award is for the creators who don’t just participate in culture - but shift it, break through whatever barrier holds them back to realize their ambitions,” Instagram states in a blog post, adding that the award is for “those who bring people together over their creativity, and deserve recognition.”

Unlike most of Meta’s previous creator awards, however, the Rings awards have no monetary element for winners.

Notably, over the past few years, Meta has been winding down its creator bonus program, which paid creators for the ads placed within their profiles, and has stopped offering affiliate marketing bonuses, as well as bonuses for Instagram and Facebook Reels creators.

Meta’s sparser creator payouts come as creators are seeing a 33% dip in platform payouts, a 36% dip in affiliate marketing, and a 52% decrease in creator brand deals, according to a 2024 report by Kajabi.

Winners of the Rings award will be announced on October 16.