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Based on at least some recent numbers, the air seems to be blowing out of the initial NFT bubble, which means that if Meta wants to launch at the end of the hype, it needs to launch the NFT storefront features now. .

As such, it’s no surprise to see that Instagram’s in-development NFT display options are now getting an initial release.

As announced by Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, IG launches a first test of its new NFT features with selected designers in the United States. The process will include integrations for Ethereum and Polygon, with additional support for Flow and Solana to come. NFT owners will be able to connect their Rainbow, Trust Wallet and MetaMask accounts to verify NFT ownership.

Users will be able to post their NFTs on the main IG feed, in stories, or in direct messages. Although there will also be a new NFT tab added to participating accounts, with a checkmark in a hexagon to indicate verified NFTs.

You can see in this image that the hex tick indicator will also be included on NFT images posted to your main post feed.

Instagram has been developing the option since June last year, with initial examples showing how IG could not only showcase your NFTs, but also facilitate NFT sales, merging with the broader market for digital goods.

You can see in this example how NFT auctions could potentially be integrated into the process, providing a more comprehensive connection to the wider NFT market.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also spoke about the potential of NFTs and the expanded role digital goods will play in the upcoming Metaverse shift, with the clothes you dress your digital avatars in potentially minted as NFTs. and linked to your digital identity.

But as noted, NFT trading has been steadily declining since its initial hype period. A recent Wall Street Journal report noted that there has been a 92% drop in NFT sales since September and an 88% drop in active wallets since November.

This reduced demand has also caused the value of some big name NFTs to plummet.

According to WSJ:

“An NFT of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet was sold in March 2021 for $2.9 million to Sina Estavi, the chief executive of Malaysia-based blockchain company Bridge Oracle. Earlier this year, Mr. Estavi put the NFT up for auction. He received no offers over $14,000, which he did not accept.

NFT enthusiasts have questioned these data points, suggesting they are hand-picked examples, but the larger trend, based on industry statistics and projects, suggests that NFTs are cooling off, at least in their current form.

Which is probably the most critical point. As Zuckerberg notes, the potential of NFTs extends far beyond the current flood of cartoonish avatar images, with seemingly thousands of “artists” throwing together all sorts of random images in hopes of take advantage of it.

These PFP (profile picture) projects do indeed appear to be losing popularity, but eventually there will be ways to use the back-end process of NFTs to display ownership of a wide range of digital assets.

So while NFTs as we currently know them appear to be on the way out, the process they embody may well become a key foundation for the next stage.

That’s probably why Meta is pushing ahead, even though people seem a bit fed up – and with so many rug pulls and ripoffs, and so many shitty “projects” in the space, it doesn’t is not surprising to see people turn away.

But there is still underlying potential, as many people are already well invested in today’s NFT space.

In addition to today’s launch, Zuckerberg also notes that NFT display options are coming to Facebook soon, along with Augmented Reality NFTs for Instagram Stories.

Will this lead to wider adoption of NFTs, or is it just a way for Meta to hang on to the initial hype phase before they die out?

We’ll find out soon, as NFTs become more widely visible in Meta’s apps.

With short video now the main battleground for social media attention, all major platforms are striving to establish the most engaging creator monetization programs, to ensure top stars continue to post on their applications.

YouTube already has its partner program, which basically works to complement Shorts, in addition to its Shorts Fund, while TikTok today just announced its first steps towards a revenue-sharing program for top creators.

And now Meta is also sweetening its deal for Reels, with an update to its Reels Play Bonus program, which will see it overhaul its payment process, while also launching a new “Challenges” option for Facebook Reels, offering more ways to earn money from your short clips.

As Meta explains:

“As we continue to test and refine the Reels Play bonus programs, we are making some updates. We’re adjusting the way payouts are calculated, with the goal of rewarding creators of different audience sizes who create high-quality, original content that resonates with people (which may result in payout changes for some creators)”

Meta didn’t provide a specific breakdown as to how its calculations will change, but the update appears to be aimed at rewarding creators with smaller audiences, as opposed to big players taking all the money.

For example, if someone has a million subscribers, it will be much easier for them to reach any set engagement threshold for Reels rewards, which puts rising stars and those looking to get ahead of themselves at a disadvantage. establish in space. By accounting for variability and potentially rewarding creators based on a certain ratio of engagement per viewer, this could make it a more equitable and encouraging program to nurture rising talent.

On top of that, Meta is also introducing “Challenges” on Facebook, “a new incentive that helps the creators of the Reels Play bonus program unlock new ways to earn from their content, up to $4,000 per month.”

It’s also meant to help a wider range of creators make money with Reels, as opposed to the big names hoarding all the available cash.

But really, creator funding programs like this aren’t scalable, and if Meta wants to build a truly fair and beneficial revenue-sharing system, they’ll have to incorporate ads at some point and allocate some of their performance to the creators concerned.

That’s where this next announcement comes in:

“Building on the strong advertising and revenue share foundation we’ve established with in-app ads, we’ve rolled out overlay ads in Reels on Facebook, and are starting to test them with a broader set of creators (beyond beyond the in-stream ad program) to expand availability to more creators and open up more high-quality inventory for advertisers on our platform. »

Meta has been testing overlay ads for Reels with selected creators for some time, with all Coil Makers in USA, Canada and Mexico have access to the option in February.

This could provide a more sustainable monetization path for short-form content, while giving advertisers another way to promote their products in the growing option, meeting consumers where they are increasingly paying attention.

Indeed, in its latest performance update, Meta noted that Reels clips now take up more than 20% of the time users spend on Instagram, while video content, overall, accounts for 50% of the time users spend on Facebook.

Even though TikTok was leading the trend and these other apps are just jumping on the bandwagon, the format’s popularity is undeniable, and it’s worth considering the opportunities for short clips, in all apps, for your marketing efforts.

Finally, Meta is also Rolling out new information for Reels Play creators on Facebook.

“On the Reels Play Bonus Insight page on Facebook, creators can easily see how many Plays each of their eligible Reels has received during the given earning period.”

This will provide more transparency in the process and help Reel creators establish a more sustainable process.

At least until Meta changes its monetization settings again, depending on what it’s looking to incentivize, which is why Meta really needs to push its Reels overlay ad offering, in order to provide a flow more reliable monetization to the creators of Reels.

It’s amazing to consider the adoption of short video and the impact of TikTok, especially when you also consider that Vine was around years ago and basically offered the same kind of approach to content, but never caught on in the same way.

Perhaps it was ahead of its time, and perhaps as consumer habits continue to evolve, shorter and shorter forms of entertainment will continue to be the norm, building on the increasing pace of the media cycle and the relentless flow of content available to us 24/7.

I mean, it seems like our brains can only handle so much, but we also evolve, and as we get used to those changes, expectations will also change, forcing industry changes to come with them .

Either way, short video is the key trend right now, and the platform that can craft the best monetization process will likely be the big winner in the end.

YouTube has taken a new step in advancing the use of subtitles in its app, while TikTok is also looking to expand its accessibility features by make automatic subtitles available on all clips.

First, on YouTube: today, YouTube Chief Product Officer neal mohamed announced that creators can more easily outsource the creation and editing of captions on their clips in the YouTube Studio app.

As you can see here, now in the “Permissions” item there is a new option to add a “Caption Editor” role in the app, so you can grant third party access to manage subtitles on your clips.

This will help improve the accuracy and readability of your content’s captions. YouTube also, it should be noted, offers automated captions on all uploads, but since these are automated they are not always accurate, which is especially true for some languages, and this option will facilitate additional manageability. on this aspect.

TikTok is also looking to upgrade access to captions and improve usability for more people, by enabling automatic English captions by default for all uploads.

As you can see in this alert, shared by a social media expert Matt Navarre, TikTok is looking to expand the availability of subtitles by enabling them by default. Users can still include their own subtitles, which would override this step, while they can also enable disable auto-generated subtitles or change language display options in the download stream.

Although in most cases you can also leave them on – and you can change auto captions after they’ve been created, and for most short clips in the app it probably won’t take long to make sure that they are Correct.

Either way, it will bring more text options to more TikTok clips, which can only help improve accessibility, while also helping users watch in “silent” environments to get better context on the subject of your videos.

Accessibility has become a key focus for social apps in recent years, with each platform adding more tools and options to help a wider range of users access their content. Which is a positive step and a significant development for the more than 70 million deaths worldwide.

Additionally, with over 80% of Deaf people living in developing regions, this is also a critical consideration for apps as they reach new markets, and with TikTok and YouTube seeing adoption. wider in the world, it is important that each application takes relevant steps to maximize utility.