🌲 your guide to an NFT conversation
gm.
here’s a TLDR version of what I’m about to write about:
so you want to talk about NFTs… ⚓️
I had a really fun run-in this past weekend.
on Saturday night, I had just spent the last *4 days* attending wedding events. my wife was in the wedding as a bridesmaid (and the festivities were by the bride’s own admission *extra*).
it was fun but exhausting, and I rolled into the weekend’s *final* event pretty much checked out. it was a pajama party so I wore a Cool Cats sweater (the one below to be exact) because rolling up in my underwear would have been weird.
the party was *mostly* comprised of people I had already seen all weekend…minus a few new faces. but one of those new faces came up to me shortly after my arrival and complicated my Cool Cat sweater.
“do you have one?” I asked. he showed me a Cool Cat on his Apple Watch. “no way! are you on Twitter?” we followed each other already too.
it was completely serendipitous and something I always wished would happen when I wore my NFT merch.
(it’s funny that I wore a Cool Cats shirt to the airport, but at *this* party…with no more than 2 dozen people in attendance, I met a fellow Cool Cat.)
obviously…we got to chatting about NFTs and my energy suddenly skyrocketed. I was ready to chat with this stranger for a *long* time…
but what do you talk about when you *first* meet NFT people in real life? I’ve compiled a list of essential questions that must be asked…
1. “so…what are your favorite projects?” ⚓️
this will surely be the first question out of the gate.
that’s because it’s a particularly *loaded* one; you can tell a lot about a person from their project of choice.
are they in for the tech? are they in it for the community? are they in it for the money? based on their answer, you can infer a lot of this information and paint a picture of their online persona too.
you also be able to know what chains they prefer once they share their favorites too. that way, you can avoid any snafus by bashing Cardano NFTs, for example…
2. “so…how did you get into NFTs?” ⚓️
everyone loves a good origin story…
(unless it’s the 5th retelling of the Batman one. we get it…his parents are dead)
what’s fun about this question is that *everyone’s* story is different. they might have had a friend who got the hooks in. or it might have been some random, online moment that led them to this life.
what was their first NFT? oftentimes, they now *hate* the first project they bought from, which is another good story in itself.
3. “so…who are your favorite NFT Twitter people?” ⚓️
we’re all looking for connection. and NFTs have provided a pretty modern way for you to find *your* people…and a group to call your own.
now that you know *what* NFTs they like, it’s time to dive *who* they like. are they a Farokh fan? more of a ThreadGuy person? or is Frank from deGods more their style?
why is this important? it’s to see if they’re just like you, really. your kindred spirits will likely gravitate toward the same influencers as you.
4. “so…do you do anything in Web3?” ⚓️
this is the final test. with this question, we’ll see if they *actually* care about this stuff and are in it for the long haul.
is this an NFT friend? or an imposter?
to be clear, NFTs can be a hobby, for sure. you don’t have to be “doing” anything in Web3 to be a part of its community.
it’s just that in my experience so far, it rarely has been the case that NFTs take a backseat to *anything*.
“what do I do for a living? I work in MarTech, but that’s not important. what I really care about is my JPGs on the blockchain.”
“kids? that’s cool, I have them too…but do you wanna talk NFTs instead? we can watch their first soccer game later”
if anything, the full-time commitments of a true NFTer become the “hobby”…and Web3 becomes all-consuming.
I bet that this person is doing *something* cool with their NFTs.
ultimately, it’s about asking questions and listening to the answers. learn about this person and walk a mile in their CryptoKicks. and if you play your cards right, you might have an IRL friend as well as an online one.
