Reddit never fails to deliver meme-able cultural events and their recent launch of a new project, Spooky Season, this week was no contrast. I hesitate to refer to it as an NFT drop, as the limited-edition PFPs were officially dubbed “digital collectibles.” The fusion of instantaneous release success with alternative naming, made for poignant buzz-worthy meme content only the Reddit community could generate.

As of last Tuesday’s release, Reddit users sent the platform’s Polygon-based collection to a roaring 121% surge in the first 24 hours, accumulating a $6.5 million gross, edging out popular blue-chip projects along the way. The drop’s deluge dragged several other Reddit projects into the top 10 along with it.

The airdrop was a conscientious exercise for Reddit. Arguably, the platform is ground zero in terms of amplifying the ardent debate between web3 natives and agnostics. The ability to gauge user’s appetite for further adoption was calculated and deliberate. According to NFT Now, before the introduction of Collectible Avatars, the company released a report called The ABCs of NFTs in which they found that 70 percent of Reddit users were open to buying an NFT from their favorite brand, but 35 percent thought that brands could also “ruin the future of NFTs.” In other words, they knew they had to execute their approach to NFTs carefully, minimizing bad optics connected with technology while making it easy to purchase them.

I’ve been critical of web2 legacy entering web3 with a brazen, careless, expedited, attitude. However, Reddit has ossified their methodical approach for the rest of us to augment and iterate upon. Their users may be solely responsible.

Perhaps one of the most advanced, specialized, and robust communities on the web, Reddit users would have detected an exhortative event from miles away. By creating a direct challenge to its founders, Reddit users have required invention through necessity. They’ve played a pivotal role in moving us forward, providing an additional blueprint to successfully leverage web2 loyalty to gain vital web3 footing. Most importantly, they may have just affirmed Reddit’s continued legacy.

Reddit never fails to deliver meme-able cultural events and their recent launch of a new project, Spooky Season, this week was no contrast. I hesitate to refer to it as an NFT drop, as the limited-edition PFPs were officially dubbed “digital collectibles.” The fusion of instantaneous release success with alternative naming, made for poignant buzz-worthy meme content only the Reddit community could generate.

As of last Tuesday’s release, Reddit users sent the platform’s Polygon-based collection to a roaring 121% surge in the first 24 hours, accumulating a $6.5 million gross, edging out popular blue-chip projects along the way. The drop’s deluge dragged several other Reddit projects into the top 10 along with it.

The airdrop was a conscientious exercise for Reddit. Arguably, the platform is ground zero in terms of amplifying the ardent debate between web3 natives and agnostics. The ability to gauge user’s appetite for further adoption was calculated and deliberate. According to NFT Now, before the introduction of Collectible Avatars, the company released a report called The ABCs of NFTs in which they found that 70 percent of Reddit users were open to buying an NFT from their favorite brand, but 35 percent thought that brands could also “ruin the future of NFTs.” In other words, they knew they had to execute their approach to NFTs carefully, minimizing bad optics connected with technology while making it easy to purchase them.

I’ve been critical of web2 legacy entering web3 with a brazen, careless, expedited, attitude. However, Reddit has ossified their methodical approach for the rest of us to augment and iterate upon. Their users may be solely responsible.

Perhaps one of the most advanced, specialized, and robust communities on the web, Reddit users would have detected an exhortative event from miles away. By creating a direct challenge to its founders, Reddit users have required invention through necessity. They’ve played a pivotal role in moving us forward, providing an additional blueprint to successfully leverage web2 loyalty to gain vital web3 footing. Most importantly, they may have just affirmed Reddit’s continued legacy.