If you’ve been paying attention to cryptocurrency markets, Elon Musk or even just the internet in general, you’ve likely witnessed the meteoric rise of NFTs. NFTs or non-fungible tokens, exploded in popularity in 2021 (though they’ve been around since 2014) as digital collectables that live on the blockchain.
Commonly traded as digital art pieces, NFTs have already been integrated on social media platforms like Twitter, where they can now be used as profile pictures and demarcated from regular profile pictures thanks to their hexagonal frame. Now, this week Instagram is bringing NFTs into their platform, with Facebook not far behind.
Testing first with a few select US-based creators, Instagram is rolling out ‘Digital Collectibles’ with a range of features. Users will be able to link their Instagram accounts with their digital wallet and be able to share their owned NFTs to profiles and feeds. NFTs will be differentiated from normal posts thanks to a shimmer effect (cute) and a set of info, including a description of the token and automated tagging of both the creator and the owner of the NFT.
NFTs will be marked with a small verification badge when displayed on a user's profile. Users can post them to Stories and send them in Direct Messages as well. Thankfully, there will be no fees associated with this new integration. At launch, there will only be a limited selection of blockchains (Ethereum, Polygon) and third-party digital wallets (Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet) supported by the roll out, with more coming soon.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri noted that the move is part of Instagram’s larger goal to support content creators and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that NFT functionality would soon be reaching Facebook shores as well.
What do you think of the move? Are you an NFT owner yourself?
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