Why did National Geographic Inaugural NFT Receive Backlash?
Here’s how National Geographic was blasted following its first NFT announcement
National Geographic was unprepared for the level of criticism that greeted the announcement of its first NFT collection. Those who read the magazine and were interested in nature hoped that their readers would embrace NFT. After all, the publication is dedicated to writing about primates, which are currently popular in the NFT “jungle.”
The backlash began last week when their social media accounts shared the infamous Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. The goal of the message from the nature-focused publication was to prepare their audience for the Polygon launch of their own-branded NFTs known as the Genesis Collection. It’s a collection of digital art based on popular photographs by National Geographic’s best photographers, including Justin Aversano and Catch Simard. The National Geographic Society publishes National Geographic, a monthly American magazine that is distributed internationally in a variety of formats. It is well-known for its beautiful images and maps, as well as chronicles on various countries, societies, and animals.
The Beginning of the Public Backlash & Technological Issues
The public has reacted negatively to NatGeo’s decision to invest in NFTs, with many claiming that NFTs are hoaxes and others claiming that the hype surrounding NFTs has died down. Negative comments have flooded NatGeo’s social media sites, including vulgarity and requests for NatGeo to remove its NFT articles. Aside from the harsh words of its audience, National Geographic received additional criticism when several technical issues were discovered when its remaining users attempted to mint for their NFTs. During the minting process, the National Geographic minting platform, Snowcrash, encountered technical difficulties in processing and fulfilling customer requests.
National Geographic, which was founded in 1888, now has more than 256 million Instagram followers, 50 million Facebook likes, and well over 29 million Twitter followers. The 135-year-old nature-centric magazine National Geographic is not alone in receiving public backlash related to NFTs. Many other companies and entities have also experienced the same. Other multimedia outlets, such as those in the entertainment and gaming industries, have had their fair share of NFTs backfire. One such example was the popular streaming service Netflix, which revealed to the public that one of their most popular shows, “Stranger Things,” would get its own NFTs via a specialized mini-game.
It was supported by Candy Digital’s Palm blockchain, which contains hidden messages within the NFTs that players can discover. However, just as many gamers have rejected NFTs being involved with their games in the video game industry, fans of the show and users of the streaming service app are unhappy with Netflix getting involved with NFTs in particular. It appears that NFTs have a long road ahead of them before they are widely accepted.
