The digital parallel world Metaverse should also develop into a gigantic trading place for digital goods. The NFT technology used is now being tested on Instagram in the meta group.
A group of artists and collectors from the USA will soon be able to showcase their NFT digital artworks on Instagram. This was announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri on Facebook and Twitter. NFTs (“Non-fungible Tokens”), which are currently booming in the art scene, make it possible to provide digital content with a non-exchangeable certificate of ownership. From a technical point of view, NFTs are entries in an endlessly updated digital register, the so-called blockchain.
Zuckerberg said in an interview that his company is testing NFTs on the platform and that “similar features” will soon be available on Facebook. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that a small group of US users will have the ability to view NFTs in their feed, stories and messages.
Instagram wants to learn from users
The details of the NFTs are displayed in a similar way to profiles and products using keywords (“tags”). Clicking on the tag reveals information such as the name of the creator and the owner. Mosseri said the test will initially be on a limited scale to allow Instagram to learn from the community. There are therefore no fees for posting or sharing the digital collectibles on Instagram. The focus is on the opportunity for creative people to earn money with NFTs. But collectors are also allowed to display their art objects.
“I want to acknowledge upfront that NFTs and blockchain technologies and Web3 more broadly are about the distribution of trust and power,” Mosseri said. “But Instagram is basically a centralized platform, so there’s a tension here.”
Twitter introduced NFTs in January
Advocates of blockchain technology use the term Web3 to claim to have created the third generation of the web. The first generation (Web 1.0) describes the era when companies and organizations filled the web with their homepages. Web 2.0 is characterized by the rise of social media services such as Facebook, in which the content is primarily generated by the users themselves. In Web 3.0, users should then also own digital valuables on the web.
The NFTs, which can be presented on Instagram in the future, are technically based on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Ethereum in particular has come under criticism because of the high transaction fees (“gas fees”) and the enormous energy requirement to secure transactions. Mosseri stressed that supporting NFTs on Instagram could help introduce the technology to a wider audience. In January, Twitter had already introduced NFTs on the platform as hexagonal profile pictures.
Experts assume that the promotion of NFT technology is part of the larger Metaverse plans of the company. In the virtual parallel world of Meta, users should be able to move around and interact with each other in the form of digital avatars. It should also be possible to trade with digital goods and status symbols. For example, Zuckerberg suggested that the clothes worn by an avatar in the Metaverse could be taken to different locations using NFT technology.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
