NFTs are the key to turning passive fandom into an active community

DAOs may be where all the action takes place, but the genesis of new Web3 communities popping up on the scene starts with the NFT. Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are giving Web3 communities the tools to transform user participation. The Web3 world has been watching NFTs grow up. These digital assets have evolved from hype-centered digital art collections to utility-focused tools building the next generation of the internet.

One of the most important utilities of NFTs is that they are increasingly used as the key to communities of the future - both digital and physical. This is also true when it comes to existing communities, whether they are fan clubs in sports and music or legacy brands.

These incentivized digital assets can take passive fandoms and turn them into active communities, where members own and delegate activity in a living ecosystem. 

The inBetweeners project falls somewhere in the middle of this Web3-born phenomenon. It combines the digital art of artist GianPiero, who designed Justin Bieber’s iconic Drewhouse clothing line, and serves as a key to real-life hype events like a VIP party at the Coachella music festival.

Fans of the artist and big-name figures involved with the project are now exposed to a new cosmos created through the NFTs, as is the case with many other similar projects in the space. Cointelegraph spoke with the co-founder and the community manager of inBetweeners, Ogden and Miana Lauren on community building through NFTs and the purpose it gives to fans. Ogden commented that Miana started off as a fan of the collection and through the engagement possible via NFTs was able to take that fandom to another level. “We blindly trusted her because we saw how passionate she was,” he said. The inBetweeners co-founder said most of its team and partnerships came from within the Discord channel.

“It’s a collective, but at the beginning, it was just a bunch of us sitting around a table. Now, it’s people all over the world.”

Miana said beginning as a holder and fan of the project has enriched her current role as a part of the core team. From starting from within the community, she said it’s easier to understand the core needs of the fan as a community manager.

“We can really play to their needs and wants, and really all come into alignment in these decisions.”

NFTs are often the gateway for many newbies to participate in the Web3 space, as are other avenues such as play-to-earn blockchain gaming. However, as Miana highlighted, it’s all a big learning curve at the moment, especially for first-time holders in the space.

“Once we get over that hump, we can actually see how efficient these Web3 solutions are and how everyone will be able to integrate all of these solutions in their daily life.”

This is already the case in many major industries around the world, such as the music industry, which is increasingly using NFTs to transform audiences into communities.