Instagram is taking a page out of Beyoncé’s book and putting a ring on it–and by “it,” we mean content creators.
We just wrote about how Instagram is trying out a more TikTok look with some users in India, continuing to chase the ByteDance-owned (at least for now) app’s success in short-form. But TikTok clearly isn’t the only competitor in Instagram’s eyes.
YouTube has long celebrated content creators by sending them flashy plaques when they reached certain subscriber milestones. It’s a core part of YouTuber culture that materially rewards creators who successfully build audiences to new heights–and you’ll see many creators who’ve gotten plaques proudly displaying them in the backgrounds of their videos.
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Spotify, which is an aggressive YouTube competitor in the podcast space, started sending out its own creator milestone plaques early this year–but Instagram is taking a different approach here.
It’s not rewarding creators for reaching specific set milestones. Instead, it’s recognizing creators for their cultural power.
“Rings isn’t about honoring a specific type of content–it honors a spirit,” Instagram said in a company blog post. “One theme we hear from creators all over the world is the excitement and nervousness that come with making something and putting it out into the world. It takes courage to chase an idea, quiet that inner critic, and create anyway. 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. Because every act of creativity, big or small, can lead to something great.”
To find the creators who got the spirit, Instagram put together a judging panel of “legendary creatives from around the world,” including…
- Spike Lee
- Marc Jacobs
- Grace Wales Bonner
- KAWS
- Pat McGrath
- Marques Brownlee
- Yara Shahidi
- Cédric Grolet
- Ilona Maher
- Tainy
- Murad Osmann
- Eva Chen
- and Instagram head Adam Mosseri
Each judge nominated their favorite creators, then collectively voted for the ones they thought deserved a ring.
The first wave of selected winning creators hasn’t been unveiled yet–but we do know when they are, they’ll receive two things: a physical gold ring designed by Bonner, and a golden ring that shows up on their Instagram account.
“We know the profile is an important space for creators to show who they are and what they’re about–so when winners post a story, an exclusive gold ring will show up around their profile picture, in place of the usual Stories ring,” Instagram said. “This will show up across the app–on their profile and in the Stories section in Feed. Winners will also have the ability to customize their profile backdrop color and put their own twist on the ‘like’ button–helping fuel their creativity in the year ahead.”
As we mentioned above, Instagram’s creator awards are unique because of the selection and voting process. On YouTube, everyone who hits 1 million subscribers, 10 million, etc, gets a plaque. There’s no quality judgment; it’s purely quantity. Instagram, by contrast, is shooting for quality over quantity.
It’s also unique that Instagram is giving a digital reward coupled with the physical one. Again, as we said, YouTubers often display their plaques in their intros or on the walls in their studios–but they don’t have a digital complement on their channels that will instantly tell viewers which plaques they’ve received. (Obviously fans who know the plaque system will understand if the YouTuber has reached a silver or gold or diamond plaque, but still…We think the high-visibility digital nod is cool.)
It’s not clear yet if these will be yearly awards, but Instagram did list this panel of judges as its “2025 judges,” so that’s possible.
Either way, it’s clear that in an increasingly crowded market full of platforms trying to keep creators loyal, Instagram sees value in rewarding the innovative creators who are bringing cash through the door.
