NFT
Twitter has review its verification system– and now one noticed Web3 maker wants to test his limits.
Pseudonymous NFT collector and founder of the clothing brand 9dcc, moneyis gamification his company’s Twitter presence by rewarding its most active members of the community with free affiliate ticks and avatar badges.
Gmoney tweeted this week that he will be offering the top 25 people on 9dcc’s Network Points leaderboard a blue check mark and a 9dcc logo badge next to their respective Twitter usernames, which currently costs $50 per connected user per month.
Starting Monday, the Top 25 on the Network Points Leaderboard will be offered a free account for 9dcc.
It is @9dccxyz’s highest recognition to reward top community members.
I fully expect other communities to follow this new trend. pic.twitter.com/VVZBkxDh4y
— gmoney.9dcc.eth (@gmoneyNFT) Apr 26, 2023
It could make sense for fans and collectors to have the visible association with gmoney, which has over 301,000 followers, and its emerging Web3 brand. And since even simple Twitter verification now costs a monthly fee, it could save them some money in the process.
“The check mark is like a status symbol, right?” gmoney told Decrypt about why he is launching this social media initiative. “I like to fuck off and find out often on these platforms.”
Holders of 9dcc Ethereum NFTs (tied to physical clothing) and gmoney’s own Admit One NFTs can earn points by participating in select online and in-person events such as the Internet game. However, according to the 9dcc website, the brand doesn’t tell holders which events award participants points on purpose, because “part of the fun is in the discovery.”
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It’ll be an expensive endeavor, though: gmoney foots the bill, meaning the affiliate checks will cost him an additional $15,000 a year on top of the gold tick he’s already purchased through Twitter Verified for Organizations. That already costs $12,000 a year for 9dcc’s own gold check.
Gmoney said he believes Twitter’s decision to call its verified affiliate accounts “affiliates” and not “employees” was intentional.
“It’s almost like lending your credibility to lend credibility to someone else, isn’t it?” he said. “You’re not going to give everyone affiliate status. You’re going to give affiliate status to people who are almost trusted within your community, and who have earned the right to be there.
Gmoney sees Twitter as an extension of its existing 9dcc community and plans to use the affiliate checks as a way to connect the dots and give top contributors something to show off.
That said, Gmoney isn’t sure yet if its $27,000-per-year Twitter tick plan will be worth the investment. But he has a history of invest in new technological initiativesincluding buying a CryptoPunks NFT for a then record price in January 2021 and together with Adidas bring the clothing giant to the NFT world.
“Ask me again in six months and I’ll let you know if I think it’s worth it or not,” he said of the Twitter play. “But I think I just like trying things very early on. And I think part of the reason I ended up where I am today in the NFT space was because I was messing around with the technology very early on.
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And while there’s always the possibility that Twitter will keep gold-tick holders like gmoney from drawing outside the lines with their verified “affiliates,” the NFT collector isn’t worried about the possibility.
“At least they’d like to encourage it,” gmoney suggested, citing Twitter’s high profit margins on such a simple but expensive service.
“With all the ‘FUD’ going on Elon [Musk] and what he’s doing on Twitter,” he continued, “to me it could almost seem like an insanely genius backdoor where organizations buy their verification and then lend their credibility to their trusted group – which suddenly becomes super valuable.”
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Asked for his opinion of the young Twitter competitor Blue sky– which has been supported by Jack Dorsey and offers a decentralized alternative in the current state of early access, gmoney had a strong opinion.
“I think we probably won’t talk about it in 30 days,” gmoney said.
“I’d rather bet on the person who literally created the electric vehicle and rocket industry from scratch,” he added, “over the man who oversaw Twitter’s massive decline over the past decade.”