The organization previously known as Facebook has long had its sights set on the development of the internet. In order to use its limitless resources and the experience of the Oculus team to create the first entry-level VR headsets that flood the mass market, the tech behemoth purchased Oculus in 2014. Facebook has since since continued its shift into unknown seas, but we’re still not quite there. It currently goes by the name Meta and is exploring Web 3.
In addition to the well renowned metaverse game Horizon Worlds, Meta is integrating Facebook and Instagram, two of the most important Web2 services, into full Web3 capabilities. However, that transition won’t occur instantly; there will be introductory breaks. We’re here to fill you in on all you need to know about how NFTs fit into the future of these social media giants and why they’re taking center stage on Facebook and Instagram’s Web3 transition.
From an image-sharing website to an NFT marketplace, Instagram
Instagram was promoted as a cost-free smartphone software that allowed users to freely share images with their social networks when it first debuted in October 2010. However, most of the results were not appealing due to the fairly outdated camera technology of most cellphones at the time. However, there was genuine photography within the flood of blurry iPhone 4 selfies. Sometimes, too, is art.
After twelve years and a Facebook purchase, millions of individuals use Instagram as their primary social media platform. Since then, it has increased the range of services it offers beyond straightforward picture sharing to include carousels, films, and — as of May 2022 – NFTs. Instagram appeared prepared for a year of significant changes after a January 2022 announcement regarding the website’s future NFT-ready feature set. So what NFT features are available to Instagram users today?
A rundown of Instagram NFTs
Although a recent upgrade made it possible for a number of well-known NFT producers to sell their creations as NFTs on Instagram, this functionality won’t remain exclusive indefinitely. That initial crop of producers was essentially Meta’s test group, much as how it debuted features that let NFT makers and collectors to exhibit and share their NFTs on Instagram for free in May 2022.
Just three months after the function originally went into testing, Instagram increased support for its NFT sharing features to encompass more than 100 countries in August 2022. It won’t be long until normal users are able to sell NFTs on the site through its planned Creator Marketplace. When that happens, Instagram may overtake the other online NFT marketplaces that are now operational.
Using Instagram NFTs
And the reason for it goes beyond Instagram’s undeniable brand awareness. Meta has focused a lot on making sure that using Instagram’s brand-new NFT capabilities is as simple and straightforward as possible in order to better assist Instagram’s prospective status as a significant Web3 onboarding platform. These features are accessible with a few quick touches for creators, collectors, and anybody else who wants to use them.
What makes Instagram’s NFT implementations so appealing, then? To begin with, Meta has highlighted a number of important aspects, such as the ability to share NFTs as posts for free. Additionally, it has been promised to be totally free of gas expenses, at least initially, once its NFT marketplace services are up and running. There may still be fees for using the iOS and Android app stores.
The inclusion of as many blockchains and cryptocurrency wallets as feasible is another goal of Meta. Ethereum, Polygon, Flow, and Solana are reportedly included in its expanding list of supported blockchains, according to a blog post from November. The supported cryptocurrency wallets are MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Rainbow, Dapper, Phantom, and the Coinbase Wallet, among others.
What types of NFTs may you display on Instagram, then? Theoretically, anything. as long as there is some sort of visual element. A recent extension to the kinds of NFTs users may discuss on the site and potentially trade is also referenced in Meta’s blog post from November. Specifically, animation and video NFTs.
The social network that has it all is Facebook. NFTs are part of it.
Facebook was a much simpler place ten years ago. People “become fans” of sites with amusing titles and poked fun at each other. The main output of Meta is now simply a little version of the internet. Since nearly anything can be done on the network, it only makes natural that Facebook would ultimately allow its many users to buy and trade NFTs there.
However, it won’t happen all at once.
How NFTs operate on Facebook
Facebook’s use of NFTs is now restricted to posting them as posts. This tool may be used to quickly advertise fresh NFT releases on the greatest social media site in the world if a developer has a sizable audience on the platform. This is something that Instagram already does, and the platform’s creators regard it as a game-changer for marketing and promotion.
Although these NFT sharing tools were made accessible to Facebook users at the same time as Instagram users gained them, it is still unknown exactly when NFT trading will be made possible on the social networking site. Right present, it appears that much of the attention is being paid to extending this feature’s support to new markets. All U.S. users of the platform have access to NFT sharing capability as of a September update, and they have the option to cross-post their NFTs across both Facebook and Instagram, similar to stories and standard photo postings today.
The transition of Facebook to an NFT market
Although there isn’t any concrete information on how and when Facebook plans to deal with the issue of trading NFTs on the platform, its recent efforts to simplify how platform creators are paid for their work suggest that Meta wants to make everything perfect before it truly opens the NFT floodgates on Facebook.
Facebook has provided fans with a way to give directly to their favorite creators via its Stars feature, which is a type of digital currency users can buy with fiat currency and use as a way to interact with their creators financially. This is similar to how “bits” work on Twitch.
The functionality is currently accessible to all qualified artists in a few areas as of a June 2022 update, and it can be used on live broadcasts, movies, reels, as well as photos and text postings.
Contrary to Twitch’s use of digital currency, there is reason to believe that Facebook is preparing its users for the concept of paying real money for digital products. Stars would be crypto according to Web3. What about NFTs, though? Those would be the digital presents Meta has added in Facebook’s Stars service upgrade from November. Fans may now buy digital presents to virtually give to their favorite authors by using their Stars. Although NFTs may still be a ways off, this development has already advanced past the first stage.
