Twitter already allows NFT profile pictures for some users, Instagram would be the first major social media app to allow users to mint NFT
Whether you love them or despise them, NFTs are heading to Instagram shortly. Mark Zuckerberg said at SXSW that digital artifacts will be coming to Instagram “in the near future.” “We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term,” he said. He didn’t detail exactly how that would take shape, but suggested people would be able to show off their existing NFTs and potentially mint new ones. “I’m not ready to kind of announce exactly what that’s going to be today. But over the next several months, the ability to bring some of your NFTs in, hopefully over time be able to mint things within that environment.”
Additionally, Zuckerberg stated Tuesday that NFTs may play a part in the company’s future Metaverse. “I would hope that you know, the clothing that your avatar is wearing in the Metaverse, you know, can be basically minted as an NFT and you can take it between your different places,” he said. “There’s like a bunch of technical things that need to get worked out before that’ll really be seamless to happen.”
Naturally, NFTs on social media platforms are not novel. As AdWeek reported earlier this year, Twitter began enabling Twitter Blue subscribers on iOS to use an NFT as their profile photo earlier this year. The corporation, however, refrained from allowing customers to mint their own NFTs. Allowing users to mint their own NFTs on Instagram would go much beyond what Twitter already permits. Though Zuckerberg made no mention of it, if NFTs become more prevalent on Instagram, it’s possible Meta will transform the app into a sort of NFT marketplace, generating revenue streams other than advertising, which is becoming an increasingly difficult business.
In January, the Financial Times claimed that Meta was working on a feature that would allow users to use NFTs as profile images. According to two individuals cited by the Financial Times, the internet giant contemplated creating a marketplace for consumers to sell NFTs. Zuckerberg’s declaration fits into his larger goal of building Meta into a Metaverse corporation. The term “Metaverse” refers to a future vision of the internet that is predominantly accessible through immersive technology such as virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.
Additionally, Meta’s track record producing cryptoverse-related goods is, to put it mildly, inconsistent. Faced with opposition from central banks and authorities, the corporation scaled back its big intentions for its own cryptocurrency to the point that they bore little similarity to its earlier announcements of game-changing innovation.
