The NFT Trend- useful technology or communication?
The technology presentation that caught my eye is the one on NFTs. NFTs are non-refundable tokens. They are essentially digital art, that you purchase and then own the rights to. The trend has taken over the internet, some people paying thousands to even millions for these little pictures. There are marketplaces that have unlimited photos that you can pay to own. After doing a little bit of my own research, you can't buy it with USD on these marketplace websites. In order to purchase an NFT from the large websites, one must convert their USD to a famous cryptocurrency, called Ethereum. What makes an NFT valuable, much like printed art, is the fact that whoever purchases the picture of GIF, is the one person in the world who owns it and owns the rights to it.
With painted art, someone can print copies of it and hang it in their home. It's obvious though, that the starry night mural in someone's guest bedroom is not the original. Personally, I see a similar trend happening with these NFTs. Someone will purchase said photo, own the rights to it, and post that they purchases it. But then someone will screenshot the photo and post it claiming it as their own. In the marketplace website, anyone can check who actually owns the photo. More importantly, however, on Twitter they are indistinguishable. This leads to many people having the same photo, and leading to rage and confusion by the people who actually purchased it. Sequentially, there has been outrage online when someone purchases an NFT and everyone commenting on the post has the same profile picture of said NFT. Sometimes, the owner even threatens to take legal action on the "trolls." This is sparking questions by observers and professionals alike; "is there any way to resolve this?"
I personally don't think that this trend will last long enough for a real solution to come. I also think that the most popular photo NFT group "bored ape yacht club" is pretty ugly. I theorize that people are only attracted to them because the fact that everyone is seeming to try to get their hands on one, and the fact that they are in such rare quantity. As mentioned previously, once you purchase it, you own the rights forever and none else can own it in the same way. More and more celebrities are starting to purchase NFTs and making them their profiles pictures. When mainstream media starts to comment and take part in internet trends, that usually means the downfall of the trend has started. Who knows, we'll see if the NFT group is strong enough to keep this going or make it as big as mainstream crypto. I'll check back on this blog at the end of the semester to see....
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