As @ljin18 has noted, psychological ownership is crucial for the success of web3 projects. But how can projects establish a connection to their users that makes them psychological owners?
Launch NFTs are part of the answer 👇
1/ Web3 projects often opt for a mix of casual social media posts and blog posts to build a sense of community around the product and engage people just enough to create excitement for the launch -- from deep dives to memes to "Drop your ENS" posts.
2/ Many web3 platforms have released features to create communities around web3 actions, but they weren't thinking about community alignment around NFTs like they are now.
3/ A new wave of web3 projects are taking that on-chain reputation to the next level with the use of product launch NFTs – drops that bring the launch awareness and that can even unlock features within the app.
4/ Some product launch NFTs have been going insanely viral recently, most notably Base, Introduced by @coinbase @BuildOnBase which closed with a staggering 485k mints.
5/ While true users often engage with these drops, the most popular ones often make their way to more mainstream audiences, such as the trending lists on @ourZORA @mintdotfun @onceupongg, as well in conversations on @Twitter and @farcaster_xyz.
6/ This trend turns passive collectors into passionate users because minting usually comes from a network signal and the product launch NFT has a purpose (e.g. unlock features, check out projects).
7/ A product launch NFT style that’s become very popular is the ‘pass’ – a NFT that allows someone to use an app or access advanced features. This style adds a layer of exclusivity to the mint that only hypes it up more, especially if it’s an invite-only mint.
8/ Dawn Pass by @daylight, which is a tool that shows your wallet’s abilities, is a great example of this. Their invite-only NFT pass ended up with 11K+ mints, the project was trending on Farcaster and other platforms.
9/ Another popular launch NFT is Launch Pass by @launchcaster, which gives minters the ability to create a profile and access other features on the platform. Not only was the launch very successful, but it also inspired them to add NFT drops to launches on Launchcaster.
10/ In addition, I started to see builders experimenting with new types of NFTs for connecting with audiences in very intentional ways.
A few creators have started launching video as NFTs, such as This Could Be A Moment by @HipCityReg and From Disney to Nouns by @drewcoffman.
11/ Web3 brands and creators can create alternative NFT experiences that people want to engage with and show off. By using dynamic visuals, exclusive access, or gamification, these projects captivate users and encourage long-term involvement.
12/ Others have taken alternate NFT utility even further, such as this on-chain game of checkers from the @Highlight_xyz team.
This project was fun to interact with because it required daily action(voting on the next move), which showed who was really focused on the game.
13/ In web3, online reputation is becoming the most robust representation of one's interests. On-chain actions and mints convey what people are doing, giving them a place to show off who they are. Reputation can be publicly shown everywhere they go in web3.
14/ A great project that highlights people’s web3 reputation is @chainstory_xyz — it shows a profile of actions and holdings for a given ENS.The site quickly gives people a sense of what others are doing in web3 and what types of things they’re into and not into.
15/ Another project that has added to many people’s web3 identities, as mentioned earlier, is @farcaster_xyz.Because of how tight-knit the network is, the network effect of seeing friends minting a project is taken even further.
16/ People who use Farcaster a lot want to take suggestions from the community over others and have an even higher incentive to show what they do and say on Farcaster as part of their identity – whether that’s linking their username on a personal site or building on the protocol.
17/ A web3 social aggregator, @yup_io curates a feed based on user activity across platforms. If they use Farcaster and post about a certain topic, their Lens feed shows similar content.
18/ What if Yup scraped more data, like transactions, to become the home for all your web3 activity? It fits the trend of online reputation, giving people a single identity and following across platforms.
19/ Web3 is evolving, and NFTs are being used in more creative ways to build engaged communities. This strategy could be used by creators or companies to market their tools and connect with audiences using web3.
20/ One project I'm keeping my eye on is @trystealcam - a "Patreon meets web3"-esque project that lets people share and reveal photos as NFTs with friends and communities.
It takes the concept of a Launch NFT further, going from a one-time utility to repeated engagement.
21/ Web3's expansion sees projects like Stealcam set the stage for the future of online reputation. This evolution extends beyond web3, including all web2 brands and creators. Integrating web3 tech will allow deeper connections with audiences through online reputation potential.
22/ With the merging of web2 and web3 ecosystems, users' online reputations will become more influential than ever before. Brands and creators will leverage these reputations to offer personalized experiences and targeted rewards, as well as for deeper insights.
23/ Imagine if brands could accurately target top users using on-chain reputation, even discovering their other interests. In return, users could receive exclusive offers or even payments for interactions with brands or services.
24/ As a result, our online and offline lives will intertwine, with web3 reputations shaping digital and real-world experiences. In this new era, online reputation's value will soar, enabling users to engage with brands and creators in meaningful ways.
25/ Ready to take a deeper dive? Click the link below to read the full story:
26/ Find any part of this thread particularly interesting and want to talk about it? Send me a DM! Thanks so much to @mtangarova2 @nonieengel @jaymehoffman for inspiring and looking over this piece!
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