Meta announced it’s shutting down Spark AR (Meta Spark) creator platform on August 27, 2024. Third party tools and content will no longer be available after January 14, 2025.
How this effects Creators
Building anything on third party platforms carries risk. Creators are subject to changes in policy and support when they choose to build on third party platforms, like Meta. By assuming those risks, Creators can benefit from access to the network a third party has established. Creators concede control by building on third party platforms.
Meta offered Spark AR as a platform to create augmented reality (AR) effects for their camera on Instagram and Facebook. To create filter effects, Creators used Spark AR Studio, a visual coding app, to alter camera frames with graphic elements. Similar apps are available for other platforms like TikTok’s Effect House and Snapchat’s Lens Studio.
Meta made it extremely easy to create effects and share them with the world—a network they established by connecting the world. Sharing with the world was the most valuable part of Spark AR which launched in 2017.
Part of the Spark AR platform was a management console. The console included effect analytics and collaborative role assignment. The console made it possible for effect creators to work with other accounts representing organizations, businesses and other Creators. It provided quantitative data on effect engagement, which made it a viable medium for digital marketing.
Shutting down the Spark AR platform throws everything effect Creators have made in the bin. Spark AR has become an ephemeral platform—assuming a quality of the Stories and posts it once served to engage.
I made connections around the world creating effects with Spark AR at a time in my life when the world felt very small.
In 2018, a neurological condition called transverse myelitis left me with limited mobility after damaging a region of myelin tissue in the cervical and thoracic regions of my spinal cord. I found refuge in the world of bits and code where programs do what they are told and anomalies are easily traced in debug console.
Searching for a productive outlet that combined my interests of programming and design, I found Spark AR. I started creating simple effects and sharing while learning. This connected me with Creator’s all over the world doing the same thing. Feeling that I had utility unbound by the constraints of my body was extremely uplifting at this time. I am very grateful for the Creators, organizations and Meta.
How this effects Meta
Again, the most valuable part of Spark AR was connection. Meta’s network and data are its most valuable assets.
Meta has made a decision to further restrict free access to its most valuable assets. Creators invested time to create effects for their platform, which may have increased engagement on the platform, but at some cost related to accessing its network and data free of charge.
This decision comes at a time when Meta is forging full-steam-ahead in augmented and virtual reality with its series of Quest VR Headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses.
The future
Creators make up a very small segment of people who create content on Meta’s platforms. Cutting them out of the evolution of these platforms restricts emergent behaviors observed naturally in the evolution of thriving organic systems. I think it’s a bad idea, but ultimately reduces unknown risks associated with conceding control and access.
There has been some progress in the development of decentralized protocols and social networks, but adoption will struggle against the overwhelming power of network effects without clear differentiation and value.
If you’d like to try TikTok Effect House, check out this very simple introduction.
