Digital Identity: Apeing into the Metaverse
Plus, Social Media is dipping their toes into NFT Space
Generation Z is the first purely digital generation, never having known life before computer screens. This idea really sunk in with me as I watched a friend’s toddler, who barely knew 10 words of english, trying to swipe her fingers on a television screen while looking completely perplexed as to why it wasn’t responding.
Much of what today’s internet is about is experiencing this medium with others. My son watches videos with friends online as they all talk in a shared Discord room, later hopping over to Twitch to watch a favorite streamer before “raiding” the next stream.
Digital natives quickly grasp the appeal of NFTs while the rest of us struggle with the basic “actual wtf” of this new class of assets.
I saw this thread by Jake Udell on Twitter today, and he makes a great point about some of the intangible benefits from NFTs, namely community.
He goes on to tell stories about people within the NFT space and how their lives have been transformed and how amazing it is to meet everyone in this… for lack of a better description, semi-secret society.
The Metaverse is actively growing and exists as a gestalt of social media, memes, live streaming, and digital identities across the ether. On Twitter, users have been changing their avatar to display their favorite or most impressive NFT they own.
Twitter is embracing this idea and is now actively working to allow verified digital identities for its users. Once it’s rolled out publicly, you’ll connect your Ethereum wallet and select an NFT as your Twitter profile image:
TikTok is taking a more commercial path in getting into NFTs. Today they announced they’re rolling out NFT moments you can own from featured creators on TikTok.
While commercialization is inevitable, I still have hope the kinds of communities that exist in the NFT space currently will continue to grow and find ways to keep it personal.
Jake Udell, whose thread I quoted at the top of this article, is actively working to create social communities around NFT projects with his MetaLink project. He has launched an early version, which is pretty slick, except you need to own either a Cryptopunk or Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT to enter at this time.
I’m hopeful he’ll open it up to some, ahem, less expensive projects in the future!
But he’s certainly right about community and his service displays one of the most powerful features of smart contracts by allowing access to social forums based on individual project.