AUSTIN, Texas — The future is upon us. If one thing is proof of that, it was Mark Zuckerberg tapping into the 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival via video to alert social media fans that NFTs are coming to Instagram.
The Facebook, or Meta, CEO appeared virtually as a featured speaker. His session with Damond John of "Shark Tank" was titled "Into the Metaverse: Creators, Commerce and Connection."
Zuckerberg's company changed its name to Meta last year to "reflect a new focus on developing social experiences for the metaverse." That includes moving beyond 2D screens and toward more immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality.
John and Zuckerberg discussed what this future is expected to look like, the technologies we'll need to bring it to life and the opportunities this "metaverse" could create for businesses, creators and individuals across the globe.
But one of the big updates was what he had to share about NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are indeed coming to Instagram, which is owned by Meta.
Experts describe NFTs as a type of digital asset, such as artwork, that are exchanged over blockchain platforms that come with their own digital signature designating ownership if that asset. Due to their recent popularity, NFTs are now bought and sold by creators, businesses and celebrities as ways to bid, explore and commercialize their brands while generating revenue.
According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg said his company is working to bring NFTs to Instagram "in the near term." However, in regard to the specific timing, Zuckerberg said, "I'm not ready to kind of announce exactly what that's going to be today."
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Also in attendance at this year's festival was Frances Haugen, also known as the "Facebook whistleblower."
Haugen was a former product manager at Facebook. Her revelations about the company's practices recently drew national attention when she turned over documents to authorities and delivered testimony to lawmakers in regard to issues at the company, sparing legislative and regulatory efforts around the globe to crack down on big tech companies.
She also delivered remarks in a featured session on Monday titled "Frances Haugen: The Facebook Whistleblower."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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