WRITING · PLATFORMS OCTOBER 2026

Twenty-Two Platforms and Their Promises, Decoded

Twenty-two platforms, one question: which of them actually pay you. A dated timeline per platform, the programmes as they stand in October 2026, a ranking on four published criteria, and every claim tied to a numbered source.

Platforms
22
Sources
124
Ranked on
4 criteria · 8 points
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26 Oct 2026 · 09:47 UTC
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⬆ growing⬇ declining➖ stable➖ not measuredTies share a rank, the order follows the article

  1. #18

    Meta

    growing

    During the week of Jan 26, 2026, Meta extended Threads ads to all markets [](src-44).

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  2. #18

    Reddit

    growing

    On Jun 12, 2023, more than 8,000 subreddits went dark or read-only to protest Reddit's API pricing [](src-112); according to Similarweb, visits were…

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  3. #18

    Snapchat

    growing

    In Q1 2026, Snapchat had 956 million monthly active users and 483 million daily (+5%) [](src-52).

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  4. #18

    Telegram

    growing

    In 2024, Telegram added monthly subscriptions paid in Stars and Star Reactions, while the messaging app claimed 950 million active users [](src-30).

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  5. #57

    Kick

    growing

    Kick is a social livestreaming platform. It opened in beta in December 2022, when streamer Trainwreck announced he was joining as a non-owner advisor…

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  6. #57

    YouTube

    growing

    YouTube is a social video-sharing platform.

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  7. #76

    TikTok

    not measured

    On Jan 22, 2026, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was created in the United States: Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each hold 15%, ByteDance keeps 19.9%…

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  8. #76

    Twitch

    declining

    Twitch is a social livestreaming platform.

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  9. #95

    LinkedIn

    growing

    In April 2025, LinkedIn's Wire program became BrandLink and opened to creator shows [](src-59), with a first cohort of 30 B2B creators and 13…

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  10. #95

    Odysee

    not measured

    Odysee is a social video platform created in December 2020 on the LBRY blockchain [](src-96).

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  11. #95

    Poe

    declining

    On Poe, a bot creator sets a price per message, up to $10,000 per 1,000 messages, and earns that price for each message the bot answers, with payment…

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  12. #95

    X

    declining

    On Jul 13, 2023, Twitter made its first ad revenue sharing payments to verified creators, provided they had a Twitter Blue subscription, at least 5…

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  13. #134

    Hive

    declining

    Hive is a social blockchain born from a fork of Steem.

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  14. #134

    Nostr

    not measured

    Nostr is a protocol, not a company: payment goes through zaps, Lightning payments in bitcoin.

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  15. #134

    Paragraph

    not measured

    On May 2, 2024, Paragraph announced a $5M raise and the acquisition of Mirror [](src-25).

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  16. #163

    Bluesky

    declining

    On Feb 6, 2024, Bluesky ended invite codes and opened to the public [](src-32).

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  17. #172

    Farcaster

    not measured

    On Jan 21, 2026, Neynar announced the acquisition of Farcaster from Merkle Manufactory: Neynar took over the protocol, the clients and Clanker, and…

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  18. #172

    Lens

    not measured

    On Dec 18, 2024, Lens announced a $31M strategic raise led by Lightspeed Faction [](src-20).

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  19. #172

    Mastodon

    stable

    Mastodon had its first public launch in October 2016 [](src-38).

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  20. #172

    Truth Social

    declining

    Trump Media (TMTG), which operates Truth Social, reported $3.6M in net sales in 2024 [](src-62), then $3.7M in revenue in 2025 for a consolidated net…

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  21. #172

    Zora

    declining

    On Feb 21, 2025, Zora announced that posts would become tradable "coins", and NFT creation was later listed as a discontinued feature…

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  22. #220

    DLive

    not measured

    DLive is a social livestreaming platform. It launched its beta on the Steem blockchain in December 2017, moved to the Lino blockchain testnet in…

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