Meta Changes Plans and Removes NFTs from Facebook and Instagram
For more than a year, Meta has been conducting research in the field of NFTs, but has eventually decided not to continue with the project.
Meta has decided to withdraw NFTs from its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The decision was announced by Stephan Kasriel, head of business and financial technology, on Twitter on March 13. Kasriel stated that "We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now" on Instagram and Facebook "so we can focus on other ways to support creators, people and businesses."
The NFT experiment lasted more than a year
The first news that indicated Meta was interested in NFTs came in late 2021, a time when the technology was experiencing a huge surge in popularity. Then, in May 2022, Instagram began rolling out NFT support, and just a month later, the feature made its way to Facebook. At first, it was only available to a few creators, but in August 2022, Instagram made the tool available to over 100 countries worldwide. Called an "end-to-end toolkit," it allowed Instagram users to mint their own NFTs and trade them, but this experiment evidently didn't yield the results Meta had hoped for, hence the discontinuation.
Although Meta has stopped supporting NFTs on Instagram and Facebook, their priority remains finding ways for users to "interact with their fans while monetizing their content." However, this news comes at a time when the social media giant has announced the layoff of another 10,000 employees, just months after it let a further 11,000 employees go in November 2022.
The NFT community was not pleased by this latest news. NFT artist Dave Krugman reacted to the announcement, saying, "Such a short-sighted move. The inclusion of digital collectibles has so much potential to help creators engage their communities and offset the pitfalls of attention-based advertising economies. You're done before you've even begun. A real shame, and the undoing of a lot of really smart work by great people."
Although Kasriel said that, "for now, they are ending the project," it is unclear for how long and whether, if re-launched, the creators would be willing to come back with no guarantee that there would be no further suspensions to NFT support on these social media platforms.
Source: nftplazas.com
analyst opinion
Marek Štochl
Meta has decided to withdraw NFTs from its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The decision was announced by Stephan Kasriel, head of business and financial technology, on Twitter on March 13. Kasriel stated that "We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now" on Instagram and Facebook "so we can focus on other ways to support creators, people and businesses."
The NFT experiment lasted more than a year
The first news that indicated Meta was interested in NFTs came in late 2021, a time when the technology was experiencing a huge surge in popularity. Then, in May 2022, Instagram began rolling out NFT support, and just a month later, the feature made its way to Facebook. At first, it was only available to a few creators, but in August 2022, Instagram made the tool available to over 100 countries worldwide. Called an "end-to-end toolkit," it allowed Instagram users to mint their own NFTs and trade them, but this experiment evidently didn't yield the results Meta had hoped for, hence the discontinuation.
Although Meta has stopped supporting NFTs on Instagram and Facebook, their priority remains finding ways for users to "interact with their fans while monetizing their content." However, this news comes at a time when the social media giant has announced the layoff of another 10,000 employees, just months after it let a further 11,000 employees go in November 2022.
The NFT community was not pleased by this latest news. NFT artist Dave Krugman reacted to the announcement, saying, "Such a short-sighted move. The inclusion of digital collectibles has so much potential to help creators engage their communities and offset the pitfalls of attention-based advertising economies. You're done before you've even begun. A real shame, and the undoing of a lot of really smart work by great people."
Although Kasriel said that, "for now, they are ending the project," it is unclear for how long and whether, if re-launched, the creators would be willing to come back with no guarantee that there would be no further suspensions to NFT support on these social media platforms.
Source: nftplazas.com
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