I've heard so many people within this web3 space say "oh this metaverse isn't for us, it's for the next generation that live on Fornite. They will really get it."
Well why the hell is this adult (points her two thumbs back at herself) so excited about it then?
This repetitive remark has me thinking of the next generation though. From web2, and particularly over lockdown, I've seen way more teens than I care to admit, dancing in front of their phones. I mean, you do you, it's fantastic to see people express themselves in all types of creativity. With web 3 hough, I am so interested in seeing what the avatar will do for the people who don't want to dance and talk to screens or let you in on their personal lives.
As we've seen in web2, a lot of weight is given to the ability to show your face on camera. I get it. It's lovely to get to know people and see a glimpse of their lives. But it's obviously not for everyone. And dare I say it, maybe not for a lot of artists.
Cue the avatar and Twitter spaces...
I have seen and felt first hand what connections you can make in Twitter spaces and you have no idea who the person is, what else they do for a living or where they are based (unless they share this with you of course) You are only able to get a sense of a person from their words and their art. There's no need to perform or look perfect or use filters with your avatar. It allows you to just concentrate on what you want to say and what projects you want to be involved with and are meaningful to you.
Look at some of the biggest players in this NFT game; The Yuga Labs lads, who were happy to stay anonymous behind their apes. Something I was in full support of. I absolutely loved not knowing who was behind that project and I think a lot of its success came from the freedom that they had to simply create, away from garnering a mass following on their personal pages and the stress and volume of messages that would consume them, ultimately effecting their work that we're investing in and want to do well.
I see a lot of people vlogging and offering advice about what you need to look out for with an NFT project and how to spot a decent one. One point that is reiterated is that the owners of a project shouldn't be anonymous, yet look at BAYC. So successful, and they were anonymous for such a large part of that success.
Maybe it's time to not be so rigid with our rules on people with regards to what they should be sharing online and perhaps it's timely with the evolution in to web3 with our avatars. Where we can afford and allow the people who want and are entitled to it, their anonymity. I genuinely think it helps with creativity and an artists peace of mind and I don't think there should be one rule of thumb for how an NFT project or 1/1 artist can be successful in this space.
Sarah