After Twitter, Reddit forays into NFTs; other platforms also exploring

Almost all social media platforms are looking to foray into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While Twitter took the lead by launching an option that allowed users to put an NFT in their profile pictures, Reddit is also treading down the same path.

Social news aggregation and discussion website, Reddit, is currently testing an NFT profile picture implementation as part of its "CryptoSnoos" project. According to online news portal TechCrunch, if the feature gets implemented, users will be able to display the NFT of their choice as they browse.

Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told TechCrunch, "We’re always exploring ways to provide value for users and communities on Reddit. At the moment we’re testing the ability to use NFTs as profile pictures (avatars) and verify ownership... It’s a small, internal test and no decisions have been made about expanding or rolling out the capability."

Earlier this month, Twitter launched its NFT feature for subscribers of its paid platform service, Twitter Blue on iOS. The microblogging site allowed its users to use their NFT profile picture in a hexagonal shape, link their cryptocurrency wallet, and display their NFT collection.

In a statement, Twitter said, "We are now seeing people using NFT as a form of identity and self-expression, and as a way to join the thriving community... This new feature provides a seamless, user-friendly way for people on Twitter to verify their NFT ownership by allowing them to directly connect their crypto wallets to Twitter and select an NFT from their collection as their new profile picture."

https://twitter.com/TwitterBlue/status/1484226494708662273

However, Twitter Blue is currently limited to users from Canada, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand. Besides Twitter and Reddit, YouTube is also eyeing the NFT space. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki recently said that the company is looking at NFTs as a possible source of revenue for its creator community in the future and added that the platform is working on emerging technologies, including NFTs.

Similarly, the Meta group also has plans to venture into the NFT space. According to media reports, Facebook and Instagram may soon allow users to display NFTs in their profile pictures.

Meanwhile, global sales of NFTs in 2021 are being estimated at a whopping $25 billion. According to GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics tool, the "popularity of NFTs is due to the herd behaviour propagated by social media". It noted that several popular NFTs emerged from widely circulated memes -- such as ‘Disaster Girl’ and ‘Success Kid’.