Meta is showing immense interest in the NFT ecosystem. The move, first became apparent when the company started rolling out NFTs integration on Instagram, which in case you’ve been in space for the past few years, is also Meta’s brand now. This time, the company is testing NFTs on its other flagship social media platform – the almighty Facebook.
Show Off your NFTs
On 30th June, Navdeep Singh, product manager at Meta, touched base on what NFTs and Facebook integration will look like via a post on Twitter. According to the post, there will be a dedicated tab, “Digital collectibles,” where users can showcase their NFTs, using unique metadata that signifies authenticity. However, this is a trial; this feature is only available for select creators in the United States. Moreover, users will have the option to connect their crypto wallets to their Facebook profiles. Thus, they can turn their owned NFTs into Facebook posts that can be liked, commented and shared just like any other posts.
This step from Meta is not surprising as the CEO Mark Zuckerberg had also hinted about it last month. At that time, he said users would be allowed to cross-post their NFTs on Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg also noted that Meta would run a trial on augmented reality NFTs or 3D NFTs, which users can share through their Instagram stories using Spark AR, the company’s software AR technology.
Earlier, Instagram announced that NFTs shared on the platform will automatically tag both the collector and creator, and there will be no posting and sharing fees. However, it is not clear whether the same will be applied to Facebook. Meta expanded their NFT test on Instagram, allowing more worldwide users to display their digital collectibles. Before the expansion, the feature was limited to a short number of users in the United States. However, for now, users will not be able to turn their NFT posts into ads on both platforms.
Martin Bryant, a tech and media consultant, commented on Meta’s announcement, “Meta clearly wants to offer a home to web3 folks”. The company has also begun testing out changes to Facebook Groups to make them look “more like Discord”, which is another nod towards Web3.
A bit of nonsense
Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, stated that the platform is expanding its NFT feature because of the growing creator economy. He said, “Now, we think one really interesting opportunity for a subset of creators is NFTs—the idea of owning a unique digital item.”
Meta expressed their concern about NFT’s sustainability; as a part of Meta’s commitment to sustainability, it is helping to reduce the impact of emissions that might be associated with digital collectibles by purchasing renewable energy.
Billy Huang, CEO and Co-founder of Luna Market, a metaverse/NFT branding and tech company, said, “Meta doing NFTs is a way to control the narrative around free digital asset technology. NFTs built into their platform will probably carry the intent of vendor lock-in, which is dangerous for a free digital space in general.”
Conclusion
The company has been gearing up its web3 efforts in recent months, and Meta’s digital clothing store for users of Messenger and Instagram is another push towards it. Now, users can purchase designer digital wearables from brands such as Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne for their avatars in the metaverse. The clothing store is currently limited to United States, Canada, Mexico and Thailand.
Although the crypto sector is facing a tough time this year, this did not create any issues for Meta to hop on the bandwagon. On the contrary, these steps from big giants like Meta will probably improve the NFT ecosystem and bring the market closer to a household name state.
