NFTs as filters? Why not! Social media giant Snapchat has joined a slew of tech companies that includes the likes of Meta, Reddit, and Spotify in adding NFT functionality to their platform. What sets the company apart from the others is that it’s looking into ways for digital creators to show off their NFTs as an actual filter.
Snapchat and NFTs
Although not yet released, the intent of this feature is expected to allow creators to convert their NFTs into augmented reality filters against real-world backdrops. Snapchat has been known for its filters since 2015.
Snapchat plans to initially evaluate this feature with a handful of creators before officially implementing it. Estimates point to August for the release of this newly announced NFT filter feature.
Pay to use?
Early indications are that Snapchat doesn’t intend to charge its users for this new feature. However, there is speculation that the NFT filter features will be a part of Snapchat’s new Snapchat Plus subscription tier.
Snapchat Plus is a recently launched premium version of Snap. It includes a few new features like marking specific friends as your ‘BFFs.’ With Snapchat Plus including a group of exclusive, experimental, and pre-released features, it’s likely that NFTs may first arrive to subscribers of the paid service which is similar to Twitter offering their verified NFT PFP feature exclusively to Twitter Blue users.
Additional speculation is that Snapchat will instead establish partnership deals with third parties to help creators monetize by displaying their NFTs.
Snap joins its peers
Snap is joining several of its fellow tech social media monoliths in its foray into NFTs. Some major corporation that have taken early-stage dives into NFTs include:
- Twitter: Late last year, Twitter introduced NFT profile pictures that allowed users to verify and authenticate their PFPs.
- Facebook and Instagram: The Meta-owned platforms began experimenting with NFTs earlier this year when they allowed a group of creators and NFT projects share NFTs they had created or bought on their profiles for free.
- Reddit announced that it is launching limited-edition, blockchain-backed avatars to the platform via a digital marketplace.
The chill of crypto winter
Snap’s new NFT filters feature launch arrives amid a crypto winter or a cooling of crypto popularity and profits. NFT sales are down: while they totaled just over $1 billion in June, they are down from $12 billion in January. This is happening against a broader tech downturn due in part to reduced profit forecasts. For example, Snaps’ stock fell from $46 in January to under $15 in July.
Yet, as mentioned above, a growing number of the largest social media companies are still dabbling in the NFT game. This is likely due to the fact that these tech companies see the value in web3 and its potential.
“If social networks ever got the memo about crypto’s decline, they have so far refused to acknowledge it,” Casey Newton wrote last week in his tech newsletter Platformer. “Whether out of optimism about the future or in recognition of the considerable sunken costs involved, the companies’ NFT product roadmaps appear to be largely intact.” What’s unknown is how far social techs will take these early-stage NFT rollouts. While demand is currently low, in the historically volatile crypto market, it could return quickly. Time will tell how Snapchat and its competitors will continue to explore NFTs and blockchain technology.
