Monetized on Meta: See why Facebook doesn't pay like it used to

There was a time when growing a Facebook page felt like planting money.

Someone would upload a funny video from TikTok, a dramatic CCTV clip, a football highlight or an interview that was already making rounds online.

Within hours, it would have hundreds of thousands of views. Followers would pour in.

Before long, the conversation would shift from "How do I grow my page?" to "How much does Facebook pay?"

It wasn't just happening in Kenya. Across Africa, a new generation of creators saw Facebook as more than a social network. It looked like a career.

Today, that conversation sounds very different.

Spend a few minutes in Kenyan creator groups and you'll keep running into the same questions.

"Mbona earnings zimeshuka?"

"Why was my page demonetized?"

"How comes I'm getting millions of views but almost no revenue?"

The short answer is that Facebook has changed.

Originality is now the currency

For years, many pages built massive audiences by reposting content that had already gone viral elsewhere.

It wasn't unusual to see the same clip appear on dozens of different pages, each collecting its own views and engagement.

Meta has spent the past year making it clear that it wants to move away from that model.

The company now says it is prioritizing original creators and reducing the visibility - and in many cases the monetization - of content that is recycled, repeatedly reposted or offers little original value.

Simply trimming a video, adding music or changing the caption is increasingly unlikely to qualify as original content.

For creators whose pages were built around aggregation rather than creation, that shift has been painful.

Views no longer guarantee money

One of the biggest misconceptions among aspiring creators is that more views automatically mean more earnings.

Not anymore.

Facebook now places greater emphasis on what it calls qualified views - people who genuinely watch and engage with original content.

A video can still rack up impressive numbers, but if those views don't meet Meta's monetization standards, the payout may be far lower than many creators expect.

That's why some Kenyan creators report seeing viral videos generate surprisingly little income.

The rules are getting stricter

Another growing frustration is demonetization.

Across creator forums, complaints about sudden restrictions have become increasingly common.

Some say their pages lost monetization overnight, while others report reduced reach or suspended earnings without a clear explanation.

Meta maintains that these actions are part of broader efforts to improve content quality and remove pages that repeatedly violate monetization policies.

But for creators whose income depends on Facebook, the uncertainty can be unsettling.

The Facebook gold rush has matured

None of this means Facebook no longer pays.

Many Kenyan creators still earn meaningful income from the platform.

The difference is that the days of easy growth appear to be fading.

The platform increasingly rewards people who invest in original storytelling, consistent publishing and building communities rather than simply chasing the next viral clip.

In many ways, Facebook is beginning to resemble YouTube more than the Facebook of five years ago.

Success is becoming less about posting more and more about creating something people can't find anywhere else.

What does it mean for Kenyan creators?

For anyone hoping to build a career online, the message is becoming clearer.

The opportunity hasn't disappeared.

It has simply become harder.

Growing a Facebook page is no longer just about finding the next viral video. It's about becoming the person who made it.

And perhaps that's the biggest change of all.