We can use NFTs for good — to stand for positive values such as Free Speech
Hi,
We are the team behind the 📜SPEECH-OS. SPEECH-OS are a collection of 250 minimalistic NFTs, with a unique social purpose: to advocate for Free Speech. This is the whole story behind them.
SPEECH-OS came out of an evening discussing the bullshit circus the NFT world has been turned to. We came to think -idealistic as we are- that there must be use cases for the tech that can actually (and we mean, actually) make a positive impact in the world, and provide something true to the holders.
And, with the benefit of hindsight, that actual value was quite obvious. Instead of asking “what’s new with NFTs?” we asked “what’s always been true?”
Why do clubs exist in the first place?
Clubs are groups of people. What makes you want to be part of a group (except if you’re Groucho Marx)? Similarity: sharing something. Sharing a mission or project (companies and associations), sharing socio-economic status (country clubs, university fraternities), or simply, shared values. Friends of Frisbee, I am looking at you.
Why would any club be exclusive?
Some groups are exclusive, and even elitist. Sometimes, that helps the purpose of the club. A high entry barrier (economic or otherwise), deters members that are not 100% in: a high entry barrier demands real commitment.
For some clubs it’s also beneficial having a limited number of members. For some missions you’d need to take into account that human cooperation works best under certain numbers (e.g. Dunbar number). Debate clubs, philosophical clubs are in this class.
And why do people brag, or wear lapel pins?
Yeah, rich people are buying “Bored Yacht Monkeys”. Whatever. That’s a frivolous display of luxury. Humans can also show off for good reasons, guys (please!)
Consider a simple lapel pin. Lapel pins show commitment to a certain value. Check the lapel of politicians or the jacket of a motorhead. They are reflecting what they believe in — hopefully. That is a clear, socially useful purpose: spreading and communicating one’s principles without even uttering a word.
People do this in other ways nowadays, through social media. Every bio, or post, is in and of itself a digital lapel pin: it reflects (at least part of) who we are, and what we stand for.
Thesis: NFTs are perfect digital lapel pins
NFTs are the perfect tech to serve all the previous needs while updating the tech:
- NFT collectables automatically form groups -clubs of holders- with a shared interest;
- them being limited, and maybe expensive, is a high-entry-barrier. The club only allows, hence, members with a high commitment to that shared interest only;
- you can define as the shared interest a positive value — let’s say Free Speech. If you hold and show off publicly one of those scarce memberships you are showing a publicly verifiable, decentralized lapel pin. The use for pins existed before, will continue to exist, and serves a social purpose.
In short, our evening discussion led us to think that:
“NFTs are the perfect vehicle to manifest a high commitment to a value, and finding those who share that same value”.
Our project
That is how we created the 📜SPEECH-OS. To be fully launched in October 2021, we have started to spread the word with a pre-launch. You can check them on OpenSea here, or follow us on Twitter to stay updated.
If you like the ideas in our project
You can do lots for us for free. We would really appreciate it if you help us spreading the word 📻!
- Tell colleagues and friends you found out about “some NFTs for Free Speech” 📜,
- share this post with those who could find if interesting,
- and/or follow us on Twitter.
Let’s all make better NFTs!
The SPEECH-OS team.
Further reading
Why did we choose Free Speech? How we align politically?
We are working on a FAQ for the project! Stay tuned!
