The NFT industry has blown up and subsequently died quite a few times now. While exposure and understanding of NFTs has grown over the past year, so has hatred for the culture behind it. Just look at any popular game streamer talking about NFTs and you’ll see pure unadulterated vitriol.
The question we should be asking ourselves is, ‘Why?’ Why do they absolutely hate even the mention of NFTs with so much passion? If you ask most people in the industry, they would spout some bullshit about the environment and people not understanding Ethereum, but that’s not the truth. That is just the dumb shit we tell ourselves in order to release the copium. The truth is, the bro bro culture and constant focus on pumps and bag holding just doesn’t appeal to regular people…and can you blame them?
In order for NFTs and the Metaverse to really take off, we need gamers to trust and participate in NFT communities and NFT-based gaming. In the current state of the industry, this just isn’t possible. Don’t believe me? Just look at this video of prominent streamers and YouTubers applauding and celebrating a recent hack.
These kinds of rants aren’t the exception—they are everywhere. People DO NOT like NFTs or NFT culture. So what can we do to fix it? How can we rise above the toxic culture that makes regular people nauseous at even the mere utterance of the acronym?
I don’t have all the answers man, but I think this is a good place to start. Let’s get into it…
1. Stop Bragging to Everyone About Your Gains
One of the most common complaints is the constant disruption of NFTers jumping into threads on Twitter, Discord channels, or even conversations in real life just to talk about how much money they made off their Apes. It’s not jealousy that makes people hate you. You’re annoying AF. You never stop talking about it, and you show it off to everyone and act like you’re better than them or some investing genius. The truth is, you got lucky, and that’s it. STFU and stop annoying everyone.
2. Stop Buying Everything That Trends on Opensea!
OK, this one drives me crazy. You don’t have to buy dickbutts or literal images of piles of shit just because you think its the trendy thing to do. It’s stupid. You don’t need a jpeg of a cartoon guy cutting off his dick for $1,000. Stop it. Stop. Seriously. Stop it. You’re being stupid. This behavior makes people think we’re all idiots, and when someone new goes to OpenSea to learn about NFTs and sees a cartoon pile of shit for $3,000, they don’t think it’s cool. It confirms their bias and emboldens them to continue to talk trash about all of us.
3. Stop Buying Copycat Trash Collections
Similar to my last point, if someone releases goblintown.wtf and then 2 days later we have trolltown.wtf, elftown.wtf, poopstain.wtf, thisisdumb.wtf, and imanidiot.wtf, don’t buy them. Don’t entertain this dogshit practice in any way. Anyone you know or see doing this, shame them. It’s absolutely toxic to the industry. It’s not funny or cute, it’s an attempt to separate you from your money. That’s it. They are basically robbing you. It’s quite possibly the dumbest trend to date. Make it stop.
4. Start Promoting REAL Artists
There are so many good artists out there that have jumped into NFTs and been completely unable to get noticed or gain attention due to the sheer insanity of the culture. When you are a real artist and you put actual work into a collection and see a sweatshop designed copycat collection that was pumped out in 8 hours stomp your sales because of market manipulation and fake volume, it’s disheartening, and we lose those artists. This is not the way people! We need to nurture the good ones and really show them some more love if we want to get anything meaningful in the NFT community in the long run.
5. Start Making Cheaper Entry Level Collections
If you are a creator or artist, don’t just focus on trying to have collections with a floor of 10+ eth. That’s not how we get people interested in NFTs. We need to focus on more attainable and entry level collections that regular people can afford, look great, and let them get into the culture the same way you did. Free mints aren’t working. As I mentioned before, most can’t get into free mints, and prices immediately become stupidly high, pricing everyone out.
We need to focus on more collections on Polygon and cheaper blockchains, and we need to focus on collections with more available editions, higher mints, and greater reach. If that means launching multiple 10k collections or launching different sets regularly with higher mint numbers, so be it. Try something new and try to appeal to a new audience. Hello Kitty isn’t popular because every stuffed animal costs $10,000 or more to collect. They are available for everyone. We have to start thinking about how to get new collectors into NFTs as opposed to scaring them away.
TL;DR - We Need to Change!
It’s time for the industry to mature and focus on quality art from real creators who are in it for the right reasons. No more copycat bullshit collections, no more dickbutts and penis guys…we need to shame anyone condoning these practices. If we focus on strong creators and create new entry points in existing and well-known collections for a larger base of collectors, we can grow the overall base while improving the reputation of NFTs to those who are on the outside looking in. That’s the way forward!
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