So let’s talking about a shilling. What is a shilling, and should we be doing it?
When I entered the space, I had no clue what shilling even meant. I wandered around Twitter, lost, and started seeing the threads. “I have ten Eth to spend today; drop your art below.”
Here is a person willing to spend Eth to grab artwork for someone new in this great space. So you post your art, you are all excited, and then you are scrolling some more, and here is another one.
Here is my wallet balance today. Let me show you a fake screenshot of it, and once again, you would post. Before you knew it, you are in an endless cycle of retweeting and posting in shill threads, putting your heart and soul into comments and how you may present it; maybe say something funny, maybe you try and connect.
Where does this get you? Nowhere. you would never get a heart, comment retweet, or anything.
Now I am looking directly at the NFT community for this. DO YOU think that is an excellent introduction to this space? Do you think this is a perfect way for a creator who knows nothing about NFT to be introduced to it?
Everyone is saying jump onto Twitter. That’s where the NFT community is. The sellers, collectors, get on their shill shill shill.
What about those creators who have nothing, no help, no one to follow? They are looking for their first steps, and they see shill threads run by assholes just trying to grow their follower account.
All you are going to do is destroy any confidence and excitement they had in this space.
It’s gone. You killed it and all for a larger follower account. Congratulations, you may well have killed the excitement and destroyed the mental health of a creator who has now shilled to 20 posts and cannot even get a like.
I hear the argument. Well, it’s all promotion. It’s all pushing your work everyone is seeing it. There is some truth to that, and once YOU understand those posts and understand what to look for, you can then game the system. I would still argue those posts are pointing nowhere it’s the equivalent of basically throwing your art off a cliff into the void.
However, for someone brand new to this space, this can be extremely off-putting. For artists who may be a little shyer and not up to chatting to everyone who can’t handle that kind of social scene. This can leave them lost, frustrated, and quit the scene. It not to say that if you are shy that, you can make it in this space. I 100 percent believe you need to reach out. However, I am not a social person. It can take time for people to come out of their shells.
I firmly believe everyone should be given an equal chance to make it in this space now I fully accept that not everyone will make it for several factors. However, having people lose confidence and drop out before it even given them a good shot is wrong.
Let’s get something straight if you are a COLLECTOR, and you do shill threads, post what you are buying, retweet artists you like, leave a goddam heart once in a while.
To creators, if a collector is not doing any of this, don’t post your art DO not feed into the follower count, and do not give them any growth even if you get the chance to see it. Rather than waste 2 hours shilling to posts going nowhere, it would be better to focus on your art or find an actual collector.
There is some disconnect going on where some are looking at collectors like they are unique or above everyone else. They are not, they collect art, and I think as a creator, we should be allowed to ask any decent collector if you could show me your collection or what you look for.
Instead of doing a shill post collectors, how about you post a tweet saying you are looking for X kind of art to save people the trouble.
Also, maybe comment to a person you see DAY AFTER DAY shill you the same piece of art, maybe reach out and explain why you may not buy it, give them some help and direction, they may need some pointing.
You ask much of creators and could well stand to make a lot off investments from the right ones. We should ask at least be able to get something from you and that could be slightly more focused and direction and help.
Make the system clearer, stop asking for shill posts without some direction, stop not showing your art collection, and maybe be a human sometimes and answer someone.
I am tired of hearing the age-old I get sooooooo many DM’s or sooooo many notifications. No one expects anyone to answer 400 DM’s. Still, I have seen some Twitter posts where there are well over 100 posts, and there’s no interaction with the person who started the shill. Nothing its empty, not a single like, retweet, or comment. YOU are the one asking for the art you could at least, look maybe.
We need to call out any shill post where you see the Twitter person day after day asking for a shill but never shows what they buy.
There are so many amazing collectors out there who do shill posts and show you what they buy, one of my favorites being @thedirtgod
I have shilled to them, they may have never brought anything, but I respect they show you what they buy. Also, I have started using some of the better shill threads to promote other people’s work nothing is stopping you from dropping a person’s art if you think it works with the collector’s style.
We need to bring an end to a lot of these shill posts. I also think we need to stop focusing on the prominent collectors. They already know what they like and what they want, and it’s going to be rare for them to even come across you. It’s not impossible, and you should never stop chasing down the whales as they are known.
For this place to survive, then it’s going to be on us. We are going to have to be the new collectors, the people to help pave the new path.
I would rather spend my time trying to push one creator to find them a bidder than spend it watching people have their confidence destroyed.
I am more than happy for people to watch my twitter see who I follow and who I shill to. I want people to learn.
Your art and time are worth something. Everyone should have a chance to enter this space without using you and your art like garbage to grow their follower account and pretend to be someone who they are not in this space.
I can tell you now that you are no one. You will never be someone here if you are one of those. We don’t want you; we don’t want your attitude. We don’t want your fake ass tweets.
We want people who love art, love creators and give everyone an equal chance.
The only people it falls on are us and us to build ourselves and get a sale. Not everyone will succeed in this space, and I am sorry for anyone where they may not.
I may even fail. In the next month, I might sell nothing and spiral out of the space myself. However, I at least was given a clean shot.
Everyone deserves a clean shot, the days of trying to impress someone in a suit who couldn’t give a shit about your life dreams or anything are gone.
NFT is a space that allows you to give it your best shot, no barriers, not gatekeepers, no-nonsense, just you and your art.
And we don’t need fake shell threads led by fake people who want to harm and crush any creator in this space before they even started.
Read this blog? Know of a fake shill thread? Please drop the @ under my tweet with this blog and start a list.
