Digital collectibles on Instagram is winding down

https://help.instagram.com/1824155514623095

by thm • 3 years ago

114 135 3 years ago

help.instagram.com

Sorry for the off-topic.

This whole NFT debacle would be fun for me if it didn't cost me a dear friend; he's been working full-time on his "collection" for almost two years now, convinced he's "just around the corner of making millions" out of it when it's obvious the ship has long sailed. I guess there's more to it than just NFT craze, and he's probably struggling with other things, but his new "know-it-all NFT bro" persona makes it impossible to even approach him with a normal conversation.

Weird rant, I know. I simply don't know what to do anymore.

throwieonthe• 3 years ago

some ppl do enjoy collecting art, toys, coins, pokemon cards. but if he tells you he’s about to make millions, he might just have a gambling problem. Like stocks which can elicit same behavor.

kordlessagain4• 3 years ago

Crypto, and now AI, are likely the great differentiators between those who seek get rich schemes and those who lever up humanity through innovation, hard work and grit.

If I had the ability to migrate to another planet, the last thing I’d take with me would be an NFT image of some stupid primate.

KyeRussell2• 3 years ago

Are we still doing “AI is the new crypto” here? I’d like to think that we’ve moved past this by now.

theK11• 3 years ago

I think I know what you are trying to say, but there night be an issue with your metaphor. The whole point of an NFT is that you don't have to take it with you as you owning it is chain state.

plugin-baby• 3 years ago

Maybe read advice on how to deal with a friend or family member joining a cult. AFAIU, don’t criticise the hobby, and try to maintain contact, so that when he wants out he still has a friend.

EGreg5• 3 years ago

Well, speaking of a cult, we have NFT.NYC in a few days here in my city. It has many corporate industry sponsors, takes over the largest hotel in Times Square for three days, and many of the billboards. Cults don’t usually have that level of industry involvement. And many people from all over the world will be coming to have fun with NFTs and try out new things.

I guess Bitcoin can be considered a cult, too. HODL became a religion since 2013, after it became obvious Bitcoin wouldn’t be “an electronic peer-to-peer cash system” and the “store of value” aspect of money was the only one left.

3np2• 3 years ago

As someone embedded in the space and tending to be an apologist for the technology here: I'm really sorry for your friend. I think due to the polarization and frenzy, the parallels to gambling and gaming addiction and the broader context of mental health is something that isn't talked about enough in a constructive manner in "investment" circles. Many aren't aware how much they're putting on the line not necessarily financially but emotionally, mentally, and identity.

23B12• 3 years ago

Your friend is an addict and should seek gambling addiction groups.

jterrys• 3 years ago

Yup, that's what happened to a former friend of mine. 2020 Rolls around, stock market goes crazy, everyone starts talking about something called "options". Few weeks later everyone lost a little bit of money and tapped out, not much, just a few hundred here and there. Except one friend, who blew all their savings for a high they never got again. Went hook line and sinker for GME, shitty IPO scams, NFTs, you name it. They got burned over and over. Eventually broke off contact with the friend group because of money.

Keyframe• 3 years ago

It’s not weird. What you’re wittnessing is gambling addiction. Seek out advice how to approach such a person and suddenly everything will make sense.

gumballindie• 3 years ago

but his new "know-it-all NFT bro" persona

A bit like the emerging ai bros. Every few years we get these types bubbling up. I admire their commitment but some need a break.

sdfghswe2• 3 years ago

I keep hearing about these ai bros. Can you give me a specific example of one?

tetrisgm• 3 years ago

What's interesting here is that it's not really affecting the perception of people who believe in web3.

As someone who's working on a decentralized product, I speak with nft creators and collectors every day. They see this as a confirmation that Meta wasn't really in. There was also a perception that Polygon NFTs aren't as valuable.

Interestingly, Reddit has managed to sell Polygon based profile pictures fine, and there is a healthy market for their avatars.

himinlomax• 3 years ago

Just look what happened to doomsday cults when the doomsday clock ran out and no doom occured: some members left, dejected, and those who stayed doubled down in fervor.

3np2• 3 years ago

More like, there have been enough boom/bust cycles by now that many are taking a recovery and future upside for granted.

pavlov• 3 years ago

“What's interesting here is that it's not really affecting the perception of people who believe in web3.”

I think that’s the definition of belief: it’s not derived from facts so it can’t be shaken by evidence.

nverno• 3 years ago

Faith would probably better describe that condition, a very steadfast form of belief.

baremetal• 3 years ago

not all beliefs are non-factual.[1]

[1]https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/belief/

KyeRussell2• 3 years ago

Reddit’s successful feature enjoys its success for reasons that have nothing to do with NFTs or crypto or the blockchain or whatever else.

cableshaft5• 3 years ago

In that same fashion, the Pokemon collector craze is successful in a way that has nothing to do with them being on physical cards. It would be successful in other form factors as well.

Collectors like to collect, no matter the medium. I have a large collection of both physical and digital-only games. Many of those digital games aren't anything more than an entry in a database table that says my steam id is allowed to download and play the files associated with a particular game id, at least until I actually play them. And yet I've probably spent $12k+ on Steam games over the past decade.

Hell, probably $5k at least were spent on games I never even got around to actually playing, effectively just giving free money to Valve.

theK11• 3 years ago

I think there are two issues at play in the current NFT space, both exacerbated by the get-rich-quick potential of NFTs

1. NFTs as ownership standards are not there yet. Even on ETH, there are significant compatibility issues between NFT minters and discussion about downsides of the diverse storage architectures and ownership systems.

2. Classical business is still in flailing hands mode when it comes to adoption of decentralized tech, be it collectibles or more serious stuff.

I am happy we are having a winter now and I hope this one will last a while so that the true builders in this space will get the time they need to actually sort stuff out, build much needed infrastructure and for traditional businesses to read up a bit.

illiarian13• 3 years ago

true builders in this space

That's a lot of belief riding on there being "true builders".

RobotToaster3• 3 years ago

I'm not convinced they will ever be a standard for "ownership"

They may have a boring but practical use as UUIDs in decentralised systems. Without wading through a sea of scams it's difficult to find anyone doing anything in that space.

grey-area• 3 years ago

This tech is worthless and has had 10 years to prove useful for something.

NFTs are just the latest iteration on finding a problem to fit the solution of blockchains.

jacknews• 3 years ago

I get why people view crypto as nothing but scam, it's certainly mostly scam, but there's a glimmer of an actual use there if people care to look.

AI is going to give us a crisis of authenticity, and here we have a tool that might address it.

manojlds• 3 years ago

I find it funny that we still call this web3. Web3 might still be something that comes up, might even be the GPT wave.

cfuendev• 3 years ago

Apparently the name stuck because some libraries and websites already adopted the term even if there was no Web3 at all. Lol Jack Dorsey's already working on a Web5 that nobody is interested either.

I think that the real Web3 will be mature and developed enough that there will be no need to create a bunch of apps boasting they're on the Web3 nor libraries abstracting Web3 APIs called "web3.js" before the term is even tangible

RobotToaster3• 3 years ago

Reddit has managed to sell Polygon based profile pictures fine,

That probably has more to do with selling the digital equivalent of funko pops on reddit, than any technological merit.

DANmode9• 3 years ago

But it does bring up the ever-fascinating schism between what we as technologists think is required for a new technology to begin experiencing adoption. and what that bar actually is for consumers and corps.

sangnoir• 3 years ago

This is good for bitco^ web3.

rchaud2• 3 years ago

There was also a perception that Polygon NFTs aren't as valuable.

Valuable to who? This sounds like a quasi-religious schism between ETH blockchain and the Polygon chain. Don't they both accomplish the same thing, i.e. a permanent record of ownership?

DANmode9• 3 years ago

Centralisation of failure points matters in this context.

"Real" blockchains don't have downtime, etc.

yunohn• 3 years ago

I’ve never seen NFT features on Instagram, so I’m not sure what they’re winding down either.

bawolff• 3 years ago

Presumably that explains why they decided to wind it down.

dgellow5• 3 years ago

So, you could collect NFTs of instagram posts? What a weird concept. Reddit avatars make more sense IMHO, they work as a form of status symbol. They are displayed on all your posts and comments, so you can show off your fancy avatar everywhere. I cannot see why anyone would care about a collection of posts.

TylerE3• 3 years ago

No, this is avartars/PFP

dgellow5• 3 years ago

Are you sure? Everything I see in the announcement article and documentation is about collectible posts.

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-dig...

lying4fun2• 3 years ago

Many artists use instagram to display their art, and a big portion of that art is digital and it was intended to be perceived on the screen, so it can’t be collected/purchased in the traditional sense. That’s why a lot of artists I follow and deeply respect were supporting this concept - finally their 3d renders, digital images etc. can enter the art market. See @mikeyjoyce

It is like a democratization of collecting art, instagram being the medium. The motivation for collecting digital art being the same as collecting physical artworks (paintings, sculptures, whatever).

On the other hand, it gives you an opportunity to support the artist you like and get something in return, in a similar fashion bandcamp does with music.

dgellow5• 3 years ago

But NFTs aren’t about buying art. You buy a pointer to something, in this case the something is an instagram post containing the asset.

A marketplace like bandcamp would be more interesting IMHO, I regularly buy digital artworks from games or movies, that’s more analogous to buying an album on bandcamp.

rasz• 3 years ago

reddit has avatars?

dgellow5• 3 years ago

Yes, Reddit has a quite complexe avatar system, with a builder, lot of accessories and styles, and now collectible ones: https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7559750587540-C...

jrootabega• 3 years ago

"Wind down"? I cross this out several times with my red pen, leaving deep grooves in the paper, and offer a few sensible, meaningful, clear, definitive options:

"end"

"remove"

"shut down"

"terminate"

"cancel"

yebyen• 3 years ago

LOL, indeed. "Winding down" is something that crypto gamblers do with their portfolios, because a free-market sell would be too devastating to the ego.

(Ron Howard interjects... "They did not, in fact, wind it down.")

ec109685• 3 years ago

Wind down seems fine. They are slowly ending the product in a somewhat graceful way.

thoughtsbykean• 3 years ago

What other major companies still use NFTs?

k__• 3 years ago

Define "major company".

internetter• 3 years ago

I guess that means the answer is "none"

langitbiru• 3 years ago

Twitter. Last I checked, you have an option to use NFT as pfp.

ryukoposting• 3 years ago

Didn't realize this feature existed in the first place.

flappyeagle• 3 years ago

Meanwhile wizards of the coast is out there printing money still. Such a missed opportunity for a smaller TCG to come in and get a real foothold.

coffeebeqn• 3 years ago

Making a successful TCG seems to happen about once a decade. NFTs are an implementation detail in the end. One that also makes a lot of false promises that the game developers won’t want to keep. They’ll still nerf/ban overpowered cards whether they’re NFTs or not and they won’t be transferable to anything else because game devs don’t want to relinquish control of their game economies for very good reason

loeg• 3 years ago

Finally. Jeez.

sdfghswe2• 3 years ago

Huh Instagram was trying to get into the business of selling magic beans, but turns out that magic beans aren't selling these days.

That's a shame.

Digital collectibles on Instagram is winding down

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