With the latest numbers showing that Threads usage is rising in the U.S., Meta’s now looking to make another push to boost in app engagement, by offering high-profile creators financial incentives to post to the app.

As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, Meta’s offering some prominent creators in its other apps up to $5,000 to post to Threads as well. And if they get more than 10,000 views for a single post in the app, they could be eligible for a payout.

Which some Threads users are already generating on a regular basis. But the offer isn’t open to them, with Meta’s additional documentation explaining that the Threads bonus “is an invite-only bonus program”.

“If you are invited, you will receive a pop-up notification and an invite that appears in your Professional Dashboard on the Instagram app.”

So it’s only available to those creators that Meta selects to take part.

Which, presumably, would be a heap of highly popular creators who haven’t yet started a Threads account.

It’s the next evolution of Meta’s promotional push for Threads, which has also seen the company make deals with celebrities and sports teams as a means to boost interest.

Meta actually launched the initial stage of this new bonus program with selected users earlier this month, though it’s now upped the payout amounts, while also increasing the number of views per post required to qualify.

The hope, then, is that this will help to fuel Threads’ growth momentum, with Meta recently reporting that Threads has gained 20 million users since February, taking it to 150 million monthly active users in total.

Which, while impressive, is still a long way off of X’s 550 million MAU at present.

Can Meta beat it? Can Meta’s focus on a more positive experience, which includes moving away from politics, and resisting real-time trends, actually facilitate a more welcoming environment for Twitter cast-offs, and other users seeking a real-time social media app.?

Maybe, if enough prominent stars come across, and bring their audiences with them, this could be another way to help stimulate the app’s growth.