Instagram no longer supports NFTs

Today, Instagram has officially dropped support for NFTs on its platform. What does this mean for those who posted, and why didn’t this feature work?

How NFT posts worked on Instagram

Non-fungible tokens are a form of art or collectibles (among other things) found on the blockchain. Instagram added the ability for owners of NFTs to post the photos associated with the NFTs they owned to their own timelines back in May 2022. Instagram chose to refer to this feature specifically as “Digital Collectibles.”

Posting an NFT to instagram worked the same way a user would post a photo, but instead of using your phone’s camera or photo gallery, you would connect to your supported wallet application and be able to post any NFT you own.

In the feeds of other users, this will only appear as the image, but have a mark to show that it is actually an NFT. Clicking on the badge will display meta information about that NFT from the blockchain it was stored on.

How dropping NFTs affects users

So what happens to your NFTs that you posted on Instagram?

That’s a good question, but no one has ever put their NFTs on Instagram to begin with. What was actually posted was the image from the NFT and a link back to the location on the blockchain.

Once instagram drops support, everything you posted will go back to working as any post, the “Digital Collectible” badge will disappear and that’s it.

Instagram’s missed opportunity

When Instagram originally announced that it would begin supporting NFTs, many in the industry were intrigued and even worried about the potential implications of such a large brand entering the NFT space. There was much speculation about how this would shape the market and what competitors might do in response. However, Instagram’s actual approach to NFT integration fell short of its potential.

The psychology of collectors seems to have been overlooked in the development process. It’s not common for individuals to post perfectly cropped pictures of their wall art on social media. Instead, people tend to display their collectibles in context and often with themselves, as a collection is a point of pride and part of one’s identity.

Instagram’s approach of only allowing users to post photos of their NFTs to their feed, without any additional features or presentation, may have been sufficient for dedicated artists. However, it did not meet the needs and desires of buyers or collectors. Had Instagram considered how users store, retain and value their purchases in the development of their NFT feature, the outcome might have been different.

One can imagine an alternative scenario where Instagram acted as a wallet for NFTs and also had its own marketplace. In this scenario, visiting someone’s profile will reveal not only their posts, but also the NFTs they owned and collected. This approach would have fit well with Instagram’s existing strategy of promoting lifestyle and identity building.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in that alternate world, so now we bid NFTs on Instagram adieu, unsure if they’ll be missed or remembered.

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