Over the years, Instagram has metamorphosed from a photo and video sharing platform to a multimedia platform. In its initial days, it was used by people to share their selfies and pictures of their food and trips. From there, Instagram has come a long way. The platform now allows users to share reels (short 30-90 sec videos), IGTV videos (series of long videos) and create lives.
At the time of the pandemic, Instagram saw a boost in small businesses using the platform to display their products and connect with clients. Features like Instagram ads and Reels were added at this point which led to the surge of businesses operating on the social media platform.
Today, a whopping 200 MILLION businesses use the platform for selling their products. Now, apart from being a platform where influencers and businesses reside, Instagram has also added features that will help creators- more specifically digital creators- photographers, graphic artists and the like- share their works of art.
If you have been paying attention to the quickfire updates Instagram has been rolling out; you might have noticed a new feature added to several profiles: Digital Collectibles. ?The feature allows one to display their NFTs on the social media platform.
Launched previously in the United States to a few creators, the feature is now being expanded to more than 100 regions worldwide. But before we get into more details on this new feature, let us first understand what NFTs or digital collectibles are.
What are NFTs and why the hype?
You must have seen several news headlines about crappy cartoons being sold for millions of dollars and must be confused as to why someone would pay that much for a drawing that looks like it has been done by a toddler. Well, these pieces of digital art, are also called NFTs.
If you are aware of NFTs, then you can skip this section. If not, you might want to give it a read first.
An NFT or Non-Fungible Token is a one-of-a-kind digital asset that is managed on a blockchain (similar to cryptocurrency). From art to videos to even tweets, an NFT can be anything in a digital format. It can be considered similar to owning an antique piece or an original artwork.
Think: Owning the Mona Lisa; although there might be millions of copies of the well-known artwork, the true value is in owning the original artwork. Similarly, when you buy an NFT, you become the owner of it. So, while there might be n number of copies of the digital asset, it does not compare to owning the original work. This is the number one reason for the hype: owning something that cannot be replaced with a similar digital asset.
How will NFTs work on Instagram?
Now, if you have been closely following the updates of Instagram, you will know that the platform announced this big reveal a few months back. However, it has only been fully rolled out in August.
While the social media platform is not the first to support NFTs, we all know how powerful Instagram is, so, bringing the technology to the social media giant can do a lot for digital creators.
So far artists have been sharing IG?s NFT features by sharing collectibles they have created or own by linking third-party wallets. In addition to providing a new platform for displaying their work, these new Instagram features will also help the general public learn more about NFTs.
Instagram could also become a hub for NFT enthusiasts. Will we see more upcoming artists on the platform? Or will the NFT scene be dominated by already famous creators? Will Instagram create a space to sell and buy NFTs in the future?
Whichever direction NFT integration will take Instagram in, it will undoubtedly impact how we view and share digital art.
If you have been paying attention to the quickfire updates Instagram has been rolling out; you might have noticed a new feature added to several profiles: Digital Collectibles. ?The feature allows one to display their NFTs on the social media platform.
Launched previously in the United States to a few creators, the feature is now being expanded to more than 100 regions worldwide. But before we get into more details on this new feature, let us first understand what NFTs or digital collectibles are.
What are NFTs and why the hype?
You must have seen several news headlines about crappy cartoons being sold for millions of dollars and must be confused as to why someone would pay that much for a drawing that looks like it has been done by a toddler. Well, these pieces of digital art, are also called NFTs.
If you are aware of NFTs, then you can skip this section. If not, you might want to give it a read first.
An NFT or Non-Fungible Token is a one-of-a-kind digital asset that is managed on a blockchain (similar to cryptocurrency). From art to videos to even tweets, an NFT can be anything in a digital format. It can be considered similar to owning an antique piece or an original artwork.
Think: Owning the Mona Lisa; although there might be millions of copies of the well-known artwork, the true value is in owning the original artwork. Similarly, when you buy an NFT, you become the owner of it. So, while there might be n number of copies of the digital asset, it does not compare to owning the original work. This is the number one reason for the hype: owning something that cannot be replaced with a similar digital asset.
How will NFTs work on Instagram?
Now, if you have been closely following the updates of Instagram, you will know that the platform announced this big reveal a few months back. However, it has only been fully rolled out in August.
While the social media platform is not the first to support NFTs, we all know how powerful Instagram is, so, bringing the technology to the social media giant can do a lot for digital creators.
So far artists have been sharing IG?s NFT features by sharing collectibles they have created or own by linking third-party wallets. In addition to providing a new platform for displaying their work, these new Instagram features will also help the general public learn more about NFTs.
Instagram could also become a hub for NFT enthusiasts. Will we see more upcoming artists on the platform? Or will the NFT scene be dominated by already famous creators? Will Instagram create a space to sell and buy NFTs in the future?
Whichever direction NFT integration will take Instagram in, it will undoubtedly impact how we view and share digital art.
