Meta (formerly Facebook) could be good for Web3…
yeah, it's a stretch - but hear us out
Instagram may not be as fresh and glittery as it once was, but it can still move markets.
(Specifically, crypto markets).
Yesterday Instagram added support for NFTs built on the Flow blockchain, which resulted in the FLOW token skyrocketing up 44% within 24 hrs.
Ok, cool story, my dudes…a project's token price went up - is that it?
Sort of. But it got us thinking...
Will Meta let the integration of third party blockchain technology spread across their platforms (beyond NFTs), as they enter Web3?
...they might have to.
Ok, ok - Meta giving up control of its data to third party players sounds like a stretch (and it is), but there is a case for this potential eventuality - so we’re going to go ahead and make it.
It’s all about love and fear baby! Not in a woo-woo esoteric way, but specifically:
Love (of the product).
The more people that love your product, the more they'll put up with.
E.g. in the early days of FB and Insta (when everyone loved them), they could hoard as much data as they wanted and no one really bat an eyelid - this is no longer the case.
Fear (of regulation).
Meta were facing regulatory issues way before their Web3/metaverse play came to be, because (like it or not), they pretty much own Western social media.
Sure, Snapchat and Twitter are there to compete, but the combined user base of both platforms is ~622 million, whereas Meta’s is 2.9 BILLION.
This isn’t lost on regulators. They will try to loosen Meta’s stranglehold on the space wherever they can - especially now that Zuck is trying to claim the metaverse.
With this in mind, it could be in Meta's best interest to start outsourcing their technology to third party players.
It’ll help keep regulators off their back - but more importantly, it might actually see users embrace their new products.
At this point, folks don’t love (or trust) Meta enough to blindly accept any of their new products - and they haven’t for a while now.
Meta have tried to create stand alone copycat versions of:
Snapchat, with an app called ’Slingshot’ (2014)
TikTok, with an app called ‘Lasso’ (2018)
Pinterest, with an app called ‘Hobbi’ (2020)
The US dollar, with a stablecoin called ‘Diem’ (2022)
All of which you’ve (probably) never heard of, because they all tanked.
So yeah, the idea of Meta giving up data superiority and integrating with third party Web3 technology (beyond NFTs) might be a pipe dream.
But maybe it’s the only way for them to maintain momentum?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯