Gashumba has held the account, which she renamed 'Lil Stunner', since 2012 and has amassed a following of over 127,000 subscribers.
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"Unfortunately my @Snapchat account has been locked for the last 24hours. An account I opened and grew since I was 16. It's sad that there are a bunch of people that can report someone's account so that it's closed. @snapchatsupport please look into this case asap," she wrote.
The outcry was in response to a notice from Snapchat that she had been involved in violation of their policy.
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"Hi there, Your account has been permanently locked for violating our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. For more information on why your account might have been locked, please log in here using your Snapchat credentials. Thanks, Team Snapchat."
However, whe she tried to login, she was told to wait for a month before she can know whether or not her account will be returned.
"You won't be able to log in while your submission is being reviewed. If we confirm that your account did violate our Community Guidelines, your account will be deleted. We typically review submissions within 30 days. Get a copy of what you've saved on Snapchat. We'll email you a copy of your Memories, account information and more," the message reads.
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With over 750 million (as of July 2023) active users daily on Snapchat, having hundreds of thousands of subscribers is no small feat. Add the time it takes to grow the following, it is understandable that such a loss could be painful.
Snapchat also has reward systems that such a huge subscription can attract. For instance, Snapchat has a reward system for stories.
How it works
Qualifying for the Stories revenue share program requires that you are an established creator. It is the company's way of saying thank you for investing in the community. Established creators have at least 50,000 subscribers and post at least 10 stories per month. This also includes more than 25 million views or 12,000 hours of view time on their public profile over the past 28 days.
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To qualify for the reward program, established creators also need to be consistent meaning public stories for the 10 days each story with atleast 20 snaps over the period of 28 days. Since her Snapchat was locked, Gashumba's Instagram Story section has become home of her many culinary and events posts.
Compliance is also important including age of the creator (18 and above), and advertiser-friendly content compliant with the Community Guidelines & Content Guidelines for Recommendation Eligibility, among others.
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How revenue sharing works
Snapchat will post ads between Snaps in a public story, and creators on the program receive a payment based on the revenue generated. Payouts are managed in-app with about $100 daily minimum cash out.
Rewards are more likely in the case of creators who:
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- Post frequently in short periods of time (20 to 40 Snaps to their Public Stories daily).
- Longer Stories which increase engagement and can lead to higher rewards.
- Keep it real and interactive even with short replies
- Keep it clean, observe the highest standards and comply with Creator Stories Terms at all times.
Whether the socialite risks to lose her hard earned following or rewards, the ban could have a significant effect on her engagement.