The Blue Bird and the Open Sea
It’s been a few months since we all were compelled to learn what NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are. Interest in NFTs grew exponentially as we saw brand after brand cashing-in on the trend. While some brands got their NFT integration wrong (Chalk, 2022) Twitter used it perfectly to promote their newly launched Twitter Blue subscription.
Twitter Blue is a subscription-based service that gives users a better using experience for $2.99. The product launched with features like customizable UI and ability to upload longer videos (Twitter, 2021). Even though the price is low, it had less than desirable reviews (Shekar, 2021) as Twitter could not integrate a lot of features that would upset its current audience and have them feeling betrayed.
This changed when the social media giant partnered with OpenSea and gave a nod to the NFT Community. A new feature allows users to upload a digital token as their profile picture in a soft hexagon.(Lawler, 2022)
After this feature was announced, people mocked Twitter for the move and some people going as far as developing online tools to automatically mute profiles with hexagon displays (Fenlon, 2022). But for the NFT community this partnership was an acknowledgement from the creators of the ultimate digital status symbol — The Blue Verification Tick. Yet, this was much more special, as it could be unique, be personal, and be something they could flaunt. And for Twitter, this move won the loyalty of a community whose numbers grow by the minute. People who once were not recommending Twitter Blue are now fans of this new feature. At the same time, it has successfully proved that Twitter can keep up with the rapidly changing times and won’t follow a fate similar to MySpace or Tumblr.
