All too often, the internet is attacked as something that divides people. The idea is that it creates bubbles for each of us and time spent looking at the internet on a phone or computer or TV is somehow time wasted from community. I would argue that like almost all things, a proper balance is important to the benefit or detriment caused by something, anything and that communities are actually created and strengthened online.
I’ve touched on this before, but the internet bridges gaps and brings people together in new ways. While physiological touch and eye contact have been shown to be very important parts of the human experience, so is communication, sharing ideas, building a tribe, and finding a place to belong. These can be done online, perhaps better than they can be in real life.
The internet allows you to participate in more conversations, activities, and interests than ever before. Whereas we were limited as a species to proximity, we are now able to access and converse with literally anyone on the planet with an internet connection. This, in turn, creates communities which can drive communication and relationships in the physical world. (Again, I hesitate to call the physical world the real world because all of the communication, emotions, and relationship that develop online are intentional, meaningful, and impactful. I believe a different dichotomy is need and for now the best I have is physical and digital.) This phenomenon is not itself good or bad but I will admit that its not perfect. Just as it can bring helpful, playful, caring, and kind individuals together it can also bring together those with much more nefarious purposes. Even putting aside dangerous organizations, it can bring together people with bizarre ideas, just look at the rise of people who believe in a flat earth….
The trend of digital communities is growing even stronger. The rise of NFT’s and blockchain technologies are driving new communities of like minded creatives in fascinating ways. I think its the tangibility or uniqueness of NFT’s that is partially driving this. That is, a simple NFT can be the key or passport into an exclusive community or it can be the open door that pulls people into a shared idea. Either way the NFT is unique and that is an exclusiveness that automatically drives a shared experience with others who have similar or related NFT’s. Its a new touch point of commonality that is leading to discussions and the discovery of other points of commonality, leading to community.
Bored Ape Yacht Club is a perfect example of where the NFT is the key to the inner circle. By now, I would think that anyone reading this has heard of the Apes but, in a nutshell (banana peel?) they are a collection of 10,000 images of apes. Each ape is unique through a combination of fur color, clothes, apparel, items, and backgrounds. The apes are not valuable because they are pictures of apes, they are valuable for what they represent and the access that they provide. The genius of the group behind the apes is to continue providing value, not necessarily on chain, but in real life and in the circle of owners that was created. This is immediately applicable for ticket sales, club memberships, and conference passes – the unique, verifiable smart contract that can be demonstrably owned by a single person providing access to exclusive material or events. Love or hate the BAYC its become the poster child for NFT communities and the crazy valuation that some NFT’s can reach. But again, its not necessarily because its a picture of an ape with rainbow fur, its the uniqueness of the attributes and the community that it develops.
To dive deeper then, let’s examine the tale of Jenkins the Valet. Part of the value of the BAYC is that each owner of an ape also owns the intellectual property associated with the ape. That is, not only are you the owner of the image, the rights to utilize the image have been transferred as well. This has led to a very interesting explosion of licensing deals, music deals, and general philosophy of person-hood. Jenkins the Valet is one ape who is telling the stories of other apes in his tell-all memoirs. You see, he’s not like the other apes, he’s a working ape and has served, helped, hindered, and supported many of the other apes. So much so, that a whole community has developed around him alone. The Writer’s Room is itself a collection of NFT’s related to writing stories about the apes and Jenkins’ book. It is an active and valuable community that developed out of another active and valuable community! Communities all the way down!
Another fascinating community, completely different from the Apes, is that built around black and white NFT’s that list randomized gear. On August 27, 2021, Dom, the creator of Vine (if you know, you know) tweeted out the drop of a new NFT project, Loot. Consisting of 8,000 lists of randomized gear that you might find in any given role-playing game, Loot was an experiment in community building with a common starting point. This project and the excitement (and hype) around it, has fascinated me ever since it dropped. Not only have illustrations and artwork for the art been created but the community is working on rules and character building to turn it into a game or world or whatever they decide. I look forward to more experiments like this and may try a few of my own.
Communities are necessary for the human experience and commonality is at the root of good communities. Whether that commonality be family, location, or a NFT, there is a level of exclusivity in communities. To have something in common with someone is inherently exclusive. Now, that’s not to say that that something cannot be shared that is how a community grows. NFT’s then provide a new commonality complete with that necessary level of exclusivity and they’ve already begun to create communities where none existed before.
In the end, the quality of the community is in the relationships developed and the quality of interaction not in the forum.