INSTAGRAM LOOKS TO TEST-DRIVE NFTS
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs as they are more commonly referred to as, gained significant traction in 2021 with some such as Jack Dorsey’s original tweet NFT going for a whopping $3 million, however that seems to have slowed in 2022 with the hype around them less prominent this year with the same NFT unable to even achieve $25,000 at auction a year later. The tokens act as form of financial investment or security that is comprised of digital data that is stored in blockchain. Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin are used to support NFTs, however the NFTs store extra information that differentiate it from typical cryptocurrencies. Unlike Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, NFTs are ‘non-fungible’ which means that one NFT is not like another in terms of value and therefore one type of NFT cannot be traded for another.
NFTs can pretty much be anything digital – whether it’s a meme, a GIF or a digital representation of a well-known piece of art, the difference is that “NFTs are designed to give you something that can’t be copied: ownership of the work (though the artist can still retain the copyright and reproduction rights, just like with physical artwork). To put it in terms of physical art collecting: anyone can buy a Monet print. But only one person can own the original” at least according to The Verge.
It seems though despite the fact that NFTs seemed to have cooled down slightly, Meta-owned social media company Instagram is rolling out NFT support for its users and content creators. Adam Mosseri explains that they’re “starting with this week is the ability for creators and people to share NFTs that they’ve made or that they’ve bought, either in feed or in stories or in messaging,” Mosseri said. “It’s a limited number of people to start.” However, Instagram’s support of the NFTs is not perhaps in the way that people would assume as the social media network isn’t actually “facilitating the sale or trade of user NFTs” but rather the support will enable users rather to share the images of “the digital object” that will contain a digital collectibles tag which will allow the user to share information on the NFT. The idea or rather motivation behind the limited rollout is to provide creators with an enhanced platform and space to ensure creators are able to “make a living doing what they love.” It will be a major feat if the company is able to bolster NFTs waning popularity.