Meta Doubles Down On NFT To Launch New Social Media Features

Social media giant Meta plans to double down on NFT and is launching new features for creators on Facebook and Instagram for the purpose. The parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is also working on a wallet for the metaverse.

In a statement, the company has outlined that investing in Web 3.0 technologies and digital collectibles like NFT was a crucial part of its long-term commitment to creators, while mentioning the names of some popular creators on Instagram who found success sharing their NFT with their communities on Instagram.

The social media giant also released a beginner’s guide to NFT for the purpose, in order to attract the wider creator community. The guide also explained the essential role that NFT plays for the development of the metaverse. The latter lies at the core of the company’s future strategies.

According to the Meta statement, creators and collectors would be able to share their digital collectibles across Facebook and Instagram once it began rolling out the feature on Facebook with selected US creators. “We will soon start to test NFT in Instagram Stories with SparkAR”, the statement said.

The company wants to better connect with their fans, build a business and prepare for the metaverse, it said in an announcement, while adding that it would not collect any revenue share from subscriptions, badges, paid online events and bulletin until January 2024.

Meta is also opening Facebook Stars feature to all eligible creators, adding monetization options for Reels and also testing a space for brands and creators to easily connect on Instagram, the statement said. According to Meta, the above strategies are designed for creators to bring their subscribers from other platforms and expand Meta’s testing of digital collectibles.

Facebook Stars has now been opened to all eligible creators across multiple formats – Facebook Live, on-demand videos and Facebook Reels, with the latter coming soon. The social media platform is expanding its Stars on Reels test to thousands of creators.

Stars, a digital good that fans can buy and send to support creators, enable the creators to earn money and build deeper connections with their audiences, the statement said. The eligibility criteria include at least 1,000 followers for the creators in the last 60 days in one of the designated markets and compliance with the company’s monetization policies, it said.

Reels is the fastest-growing content format on the Meta’s platforms and it plans to help creators maximize their monetization opportunities. The company said there would be no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on Instagram. However, it also clarified that it would not offer the ability to turn digital collectible posts into advertisements, at least not for now.

Meta is also testing ways by which creators could make money on both Facebook and Instagram with cross-posted content and will soon being testing Creator Marketplace on Instagram, where brands and creators can more branded content partnerships more easily, it said in the announcement.

Meanwhile, as an extension to the branded content partnership feature on Instagram, it also plans to begin testing in-app payments, so that brands can pay creators for branded content through Instagram, when the project is complete, the company statement said. Brands will also be able to discover and collaborate with Instagram creators through Meta Business Suite using demographic and interest filters for a creator and their audience, it said.

Amidst all the above announcements, Meta reiterated in the statement that it was conscious of the fact that NFT raise important sustainability questions. Therefore, the company has been helping to reduce the emissions impact that might be associated with digital collectibles by purchasing renewable energy, it said.