David Bridges
After initially launching its NFT display options to selected users back in May, Meta has now announced that all US users on Facebook, and most people on Instagram, can now post their digital collectibles to each app, with a specialized post format that provides more detail on each NFT piece.
As per Meta:
“Today we’re announcing everyone on Facebook and Instagram in the US can now connect their wallets and share their digital collectibles. This includes the ability for people to cross-post digital collectibles that they own across both Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, everyone in the 100 countries where digital collectibles are available on Instagram can now access the feature.”
So, cool, right? Now you, like EDM legend Steve Aoki, can share a post to celebrate your $150,000 Cryptopunk, just to flex these IG fools.
As you can check out for yourself by tapping through on this example, Meta’s NFT display process includes a ‘Digital Collectible’ overlay indicator to signify that it is an NFT, while there’s also a hexagonal icon with a tick inside to signify that this user has connected their NFT details in the app. Once users have posted an NFT piece, there’ll also be a new tab added to their account, which will provide an easy way to access and view all of their NFT artworks.
Meta launched the first stage of its Facebook NFT display expansion in June, which provides the same presentation functionality in its main app. And now, more people will be able to show off their Web3 savvy – or stupidity, depending on how you see it.
It’s all a matter of perspective – NFT advocates, most of whom are passionate supporters of the process, believe that NFTs are the future of digital art trading, opening up a raft of new opportunities for creators to monetize their work, while also setting the stage for the next phase of digital identity, in which your chosen artworks will provide a representation, of sorts, of yourself.
Yet at the same time, based on sales activity, NFTs are increasingly looking like a short-lived fad:
Though as Web3 advocates are keen to note, it’s still early, and there may be a shift in adoption as digital trends evolve, with variable use of the NFT framework potentially also able to be adapted to facilitate cross-platform ownership of digital items, beyond just art pieces, which would then enable you to take any such items with you into new metaverse platforms and apps.
So NFTs, as a concept, could still evolve beyond pictures of pixelated punks. But NFTs, as they currently stand, primarily dominated by profile picture (PFP) projects, are probably not going to be a revolution in themselves.
But again, nobody knows, and there are also many NFT fans that are simply enamored by the art, and the capacity to support the artists who create it. In this respect, NFTs are great, but it’s the scams, the cash grabs, the brands jumping on trends (take note), it’s these other aspects that have muddied the waters in some respects.
Also, you could just buy art through traditional means, without the need for a crypto wallet. That’s not as cool, and may not provide the digital ownership credibility that NFTs do. But it is early, and there’s a lot to come on the Web3 and metaverse fronts.
Given all of this, while it may seem that Meta is a little behind the times in implementing NFT display options, as the NFT market is in decline, it could actually still become a bigger and more relevant element as time goes on.
Or it may just end up a niche trend – which could well be valuable for Meta to foster within itself either wat.
Whatever your view, NFT fans now have more options to showcase their purchases, and make connections with like-minded FB and IG users.
Cameron Steel
Tessa Everly
