Meta Ends NFT Support And What This Means For Publishers

In news that doesn't surprise us, Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, has abandoned support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms. This announcement comes less than a year after Meta introduced features to support digital collectibles, including the ability to select US-based Instagram creators to share Ethereum and Polygon-based NFT collections in May 2022. The product managers were gatekeeping the NFT marketplace features, only allowing a select group of creators access to mint on Instagram. The lesson is that publishers don't need Instagram to verify or adopt a Web3 strategy that truly starts on-chain. Like Violet Verse, publishing Article NFTs and digital collectibles begins with a blank contract address and a mission to archive data and content on the chain. 

RIP META NFTS

On Monday, March 13, Stephane Kasriel, Meta's commerce and fintech lead, broke the news of the company's decision via Twitter. He stated that the company would redirect its resources to other products, including the development of Meta Pay. In a series of Tweets, Kasriel expressed Meta's pride in the relationships it built within the non-fungible sector and assured NFT creators that the company would continue to support them on Instagram and Facebook, despite discontinuing NFT support.

However, NFT creators have criticized Meta's decision to abandon NFT support on its platforms. Some have suggested that Meta missed the point of digital collectibles and that including them can help creators engage their communities and counterbalance the pitfalls of attention-based advertising economies. Digital artist Dave Krugman, in particular, called the move "short-sighted" and a "real shame".

Moreover, wab.eth, the founder of the Sappy Seals NFT collection, stated that Meta needed to figure out ways to house community and develop a creator economy rather than simply adding the ability to display NFTs on users' feeds. This sentiment echoes the view of many NFT creators who believe that digital collectibles have the potential to revolutionize the way artists engage with their communities and monetize their work.

Despite the criticism from some members of the NFT community, Meta's decision to abandon NFT support on its platforms marks a significant shift in the company's strategy. Whether Meta's decision to focus on other products will prove successful remains to be seen. Still, the non-fungible sector will continue to evolve and innovate in the coming years.

What This Means For Publishers

Meta's recent decision to discontinue support for NFTs has left many publishers wondering where to go. It's important to remember that Meta is not the only mainstream social platform to mint and sell NFTs. Publishers should refrain from relying on agencies to handle records that deal with belonging since these companies have no obligation to protect them. Instead, they should focus on building systems that allow them to keep track of their property rights in an open-source format. Our software at Violet Verse will enable publishers of all sizes to own their digital assets as Article NFTs. VV aims to modernize editorial workflows while providing business publishing tools that have a lasting effect on archiving, combating misinformation, and providing elevated proof of writing. Learn more about www.violetverse.io/enterprise