Creators and collectors of non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) will soon be able to display their tokens on Instagram. In a blog post today, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the company is testing NFTs on the platform, with “similar features” coming to Facebook soon.
In a video posted today, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that a small number of US users will be able to see NFTs in their feeds, stories, and messages. NFT details are referred to be “digital collectibles” and are displayed similarly to tagged profiles and products. When you click on the tag, you’ll see information like the creator’s and owner’s names.
NFTs on Instagram 🎉
This week we’re beginning to test digital collectibles with a handful of US creators and collectors who will be able to share NFTs on Instagram. There will be no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on IG.
See you next week! ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/VuJbMVSBDr
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) May 9, 2022
According to Mosseri, the test will be small at first so Instagram can learn from the community. He brings up a tension between massive corporations like Instagram and the decentralized spirit of Web3, perhaps in an attempt to address distrust of a major social networking platform going into NFTs.
“I’d like to state right away that NFTs, blockchain technologies, and Web3 in general are all about spreading trust and power,” Mosseri explains. “However, Instagram is a centralized platform, so there’s a tension there.”
Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow NFTs will be supported, according to a report published by CoinDesk over the weekend.
Support for NFTs on Instagram, according to Mosseri, might help promote the technology to a wider audience. Instagram isn’t the first site to do so; Twitter released NFTs as hexagon-shaped profile images in January. A hexagon appears as a symbol in the corner of NFTs’ Instagram postings. Though firms and celebrities have been quick to hop on NFTs, and some recent transactions have resulted in transient activity spikes, revenues have flatlined since a peak last September, according to a report published last week by The Wall Street Journal.
