Happy Thanksgiving to our NFT family! We are incredibly grateful for your continual support! It seemed fitting to write about NFT communities, friendships, and bonds that have been forming through NFT projects this week. Hope you enjoy the content and be sure to comment and share our Newsletters with your friends:)
The 3 C’s: Community, Connection, and Communication
I’m curious how many of you sat at the table on Thursday afternoon, orally vacuuming your third helping of sweet potatoes, trying to explain to Uncle Oscar that a non-fungible token was not something you collect at Chuck E Cheese. Funny enough, NFTs and Thanksgiving actually do share character traits that are inherently vital to their function: Community, Connection, and Communication. We’ll call them the 3 C’s.
Many NFT projects have global online communities that revolve around an interest toward a specific project, ideal, or protocol within the digital asset space. With the help of certain digital platforms, these communities can share their comments, questions, and concerns with everyone else as a part of their unique clique. Just like most humans, these projects need a sufficient amount of the 3 C’s in order to grow up to be big and strong. The chance of an NFT collection gaining a high volume of traffic has to do with how intact, loyal, and zealous its online followers are.
Photo Credit: deBanked
The NFT community communicates publicly for inclusivity, with no need of a bachelor’s degree or a wealthy line of patriarchs. This is just one of the beautiful pillars of these communities. It's a meritocracy, and anyone is welcomed with open arms if they follow a simple rule that was taught to them on the carpet of Mrs. Gorman's kindergarten classroom: “Treat people the way you want to be treated”. The good has come together to make sure that any form of internet evil, will have no place within these communities.
There are various platforms in which these online communities interact with one another, and I would highly recommend doing some reconnaissance within them, to truly get an understanding of how NFT lovers are communicating with each other. One of the most popular spaces for such conversation to take place is Twitter. Every popular NFT creator has a Twitter account where they blast out the ideology and the roadmap behind their project. This is where they start creating an avid following and where they announce when their drops are taking place (A drop is when a creator publicly releases the token(s) for people to buy/mint on the blockchain). These actions in turn further push out their content into the world, whether it's retweeting, commenting, or publicizing their love for the project. Another use of Twitter is to funnel the true devotees into a smaller space where they can connect more intimately about the intricacies of a project within the niche community. And one of the most popular spaces in which said aficionados’ conglomerate is called Discord.
Twitter and Discord Logos
Discord is a platform in which creators and supporters interact with one another by way of forums, video and audio calls, and instant messaging. This is the hive. This is where you get specific details, like the dates of certain drops and giveaways, new additions to the projects, and where networking and relationship building can sprout. These relationships which revolve around a certain commonality are what boosts the engagement and loyalty to the project, in turn, giving it more “Worth” and “Value”. Just like having 300 people line up in front of an Apple store when the new iPhone comes out, those who set up tents and eat Slim Jims share a common love, and that love creates relationships, which act as water that enriches the growth of the project. There are other platforms such as Reddit and Telegram that you should also check out if it piques your interest, but according to the free market, Twitter and Discord are the real top dogs. Simply put, if Twitter is Comic-Con, Discord is the booth where all the fanboys go.
“But these relationships aren't real!”, “Why would I want to be friends with someone I've never met?” These are true concerns people have, me included. However, NFT projects have now started to integrate into our real world (I still always get a kick out of having to put the word “real” in front of “world''). Many NFT artists tout how they’ve made some of their best friends through online connections. For some collections, like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks, If you’re an owner of one of their NFT’s, you get access to in-person, uniquely curated events, including lectures, networking parties, concerts, immersive art exhibits, and of course, the bragging rights to be a part of the club. It’s like Soho house, but with less Botox and bloviation (look this word up lol).
Art Exhibit Hosted by BAYC
Proof of Consciousness:
Last weekend I attended my First NFT Party in Venice, CA. It was put on by a project titled Proof of Consciousness, which revolves around creating “authentic connections and Radical Expressions''. This party was my first-hand experience with how an online relationship can blossom to its fullest potential. At this compound turned creative co-working space, I met artists, I met gamers, I met collectors. There was so much to learn from these people about the intricacies of the NFT world, and everyone was more than willing to explain things that were quite nebulous to me as a “noobie”.
All attendees were sharing their projects, their new favorite collections, their ideas about the future of the industry. There were people exploring a virtual gallery in a VR headset and they placed aerial silk ropes in their space for acrobatic performances! Yes, the NFTs themselves have value, but what's more impressive to me is how they act as a key which unlocks the door to a world of interconnected creativity, both in the digital, material, and performing arts. It's like getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's factory. It’s your ticket into the club, and it comes with all the bells and whistles.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for all of you who listen to my loquacious writings.
Stay Curious!
~NFT Art Source
Article by: Nate Galper