Twitter will let iOS users of its Blue subscription service use NFTs as hexagon-shaped profile pictures

Service will be available to some users of the company's Blue subscriber service — Twitter Inc. will start allowing some users to use nonfungible tokens as their profile pictures …

Wall Street Journal 2022-01-22 Salvador Rodriguez

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter Blue had already surfaced in the iOS App Store as a planned $2.99 tier before its in-app debut. Adding a distinctive profile treatment turns the subscription from a utility bundle into a visible identity product for a subset of members.

The feature also fits Blue's subsequent expansion into iOS-only content and status perks, from a redesigned Spaces destination to a paid checkmark. Its later quiet removal from paid profiles shows that the NFT treatment was not retained as a durable subscription entitlement.

First-order effects

Eligible iOS Blue subscribers gain a platform-recognized way to display NFT ownership, while non-subscribers retain standard profile-image presentation.
Twitter makes Blue more conspicuous on the service: the hexagonal format lets subscribers signal access to a paid feature in ordinary account interactions.

Second-order effects

Blue's product team gains a new template for subscription differentiation—exclusive social identity features alongside content and audio features—rather than relying on a single benefit.
The later removal means NFT holders who used the profile marker lose a platform-level display utility, making the value of the feature contingent on Twitter's subscription roadmap.

Third-order effects

The sequence points to paid social tiers being assembled from reversible, highly visible perks; durability depends on whether each perk continues to support the subscription's broader positioning.
If platforms continue attaching identity signals to paid plans and then replacing them, users' platform-specific digital-status features become less like permanent ownership utilities and more like renewable service benefits.

The trend: Social platforms are testing subscription growth through visible identity and access perks, with the bundle changing as product priorities shift.

Discussion

Twitter Help Center Twitter Help Center on x
Twitter Blue Labs
@twitterblue @twitterblue on x
gm! You asked (a lot), so we made it. Now rolling out in Labs: NFT Profile Pictures on iOS https://twitter.com/...
@twitterblue @twitterblue on x
Ready to show off your NFT? Follow these simple steps to connect your crypto wallet and let's see your NFT PFPs! https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
Twitter has just launched NFT profile photos. They're hexagon-shaped https://www.theverge.com/ https://twitter.com/...
@hollanderadam Adam Hollander on x
There's actually a MAJOR PROBLEM with the new Twitter PFP feature. It appears to work for ANY NFT in your collection. Not just verified collections. That means someone can just right-click-save any NFT, mint it, and then use it as their PFP 😢 You were so close Twitter. Why 😭
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Twitter is spending engineering resources on this bs while crypto scammers are throwing a spambot block party in every thread!?
@opensea @opensea on x
1/ Attn Twitter fam! Today we're excited to see @Twitter launch their new NFT Profile Pictures feature, powered by OpenSea's API https://twitter.com/...
@jsngr Jordan Singer on x
profile pictures: a visual history https://twitter.com/...
@quicknode @quicknode on x
Beyond excited to power @Twitter's new NFT Profile Picture feature on @TwitterBlue. Monumental moment for NFT & Web3 communities, Twitter and @QuickNode. Super proud of all involved in making this a reality and look forward to seeing your NFTs on Twitter! #NewNFTProfilePic https:…
@foone @foone on x
BTW when you start seeing people with the hex avatars, don't reply, don't quote retweet, just ignore or block them. Twitter hasn't missed that a lot of users hate this. Twitter is counting on it.
@thesmarmybum Justin Taylor on x
NFT Profile Photos are here! Connect your wallet and get started today! https://twitter.com/...
@zerohedge_ John Wick on x
He ain't wrong about this. Twitter has turned into a goldmine for scammer bc the company doesn't give a shit. Basically. https://twitter.com/...
@kayvz @kayvz on x
Subscribers of @TwitterBlue can now verify an NFT they own as their profile photo! NFT profile pics will show up as hexagonal avatars, and tapping on them will show metadata about the NFT. https://twitter.com/...
@xanderatallah Alex Atallah on x
Today Twitter becomes one of the first social networks to build NFTs into the app itself Powered by OpenSea 🐳 https://twitter.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Gonna have so much fun right-clicking these, flipping them and reselling them https://twitter.com/...
@pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings on x
So just to be clear Twitter wasn't super interested in finding a way to mark accounts of actual medical professionals during a two year pandemic but sure had time to work on give special profiles to NFT owners
@docdre @docdre on x
lmaooooo “...if you sell the NFT that's in your profile Twitter will continue to display the image, regardless of who owns it. however, it will revert to a common circle frame instead of the crypto wallet-only hexagon shape” https://www.theverge.com/...
@fwong Freddie Wong on x
Far and away the funniest part of this is Twitter putting this feature behind their subscription paywall because they realized nft bros will pay for anything https://twitter.com/...
@noearts @noearts on x
Just give us back the animated profile pics and don't make this sh*t https://twitter.com/...
@dbreunig Drew Breunig on x
I'm not mad at Twitter's NFT avatar feature, I'm mad that it took this long for Twitter to ship *any* avatar feature. There are so many things they could have/could do there...
@neerajka Neeraj K. Agrawal on x
twitter will now allow users to prove that they spent $400,000 on an atrocious cartoon ape
@icklenellierose Ellen Rose on x
NFTs are just about pointlessly flexing online. It's a crappy class system, a way for crypto nerds to show off how much money they can spend. And they get excited about stuff like this because - as much as they pretend they don't - they want everyone to care about it SO MUCH. htt…
@g0ffthew Geoff Thew on x
NFT profile pics are a great feature actually. just imagine if Facebook tagged that high school acquaintance who “just reached out to catch up” with a little Herbalife logo so you know to ignore them.
@_tessr Tess Rinearson on x
Paul's leadership was 🎺instrumental🎺 to all of this https://twitter.com/...
@hollanderadam Adam Hollander on x
OK, OK, OK... There are far too many comments to continue addressing them 1-1. So here's a bunch of thoughts in no particular order. 1. I agree that verification on OpenSea is an unmitigated disaster and ideally shouldn't be the basis of the new Twitter NFT PFP feature. (1/6)
@rjcc Richard Lawler on x
Once upon a time, if you saw an egg avatar or a fairly specific kind of anime picture, you could guess that was a Twitter account to avoid. Now Twitter is helpfully giving NFT profile pictures their own special shape, and you can decide what to do with that information. https://t…
@nitashatiku Nitasha Tiku on x
when you minted a crypto coven but dont wanna pay for twittr blue
@thecaptainsauce @thecaptainsauce on x
The digital equivalent of wearing a “kick me” sign. https://twitter.com/...
@mightykeef @mightykeef on x
Wait wait wait. So the NFT bros have to PAY to have their profile pic a NFT??? Lmaooooo. So they legit to pay to get bullied on this app. Hilarious. https://twitter.com/...
@burrddoh Victoria on x
You heard it here. “Crypto is a key pillar of Twitter's future” https://www.wsj.com/...
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Twitter's like “yep today's definitely the day to get into crypto”.
@iancoldwater Ian Coldwater on x
besides this generally being obnoxious, connecting your crypto wallet to your Twitter account seems like a spectacularly bad idea. What could go wrong? https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
Real issue here is that most GIF search engines, which mostly just using GIPHY's API, tend to surface old references. Twitter search is a notorious offender. So you end up with the common GIFs being things that were popular 10+ years ago like The Office. https://www.vice.com/...
@joncomms Jon Cartwright on x
Thank you twitter for easily showing me who I shouldn't interact with https://twitter.com/...
@rdrv3 David Ruddock on x
wow, who thought it was possible to be even less cool Online https://twitter.com/...
@tomaxwell Thomas Maxwell on x
if you're not a Blue subscriber, have no fear. See an NFT pfp you like? just right-click, save https://twitter.com/...
@kylebaker Kyle Baker on x
This made me realize that NFTs could spark a DMCA of images all over the Internet how it's already done for movies and music. Imagine having your profile picture be your idol, let's say Mohammed Ali, but someone purchased that NFT of that image,& you get DMCA striked for using it…
@samfbiddle Sam Biddle on x
I predict a browser extension that auto-blocks people with hexagonal avatars would become very popular very fast https://twitter.com/...
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
Biggest moment for NFTs since the Beeple sale? https://twitter.com/...
@anthony Anthony DeRosa on x
Twitter Blue subscribers will have an option to use NFTs as profile pictures, with distinctive hexagonal format “Crypto is a key pillar of Twitter's future” https://www.wsj.com/...
@ricmac Richard MacManus on x
It makes sense you have to pay to use NFT profile pictures on Twitter https://twitter.com/...
Twitter Help Center Twitter Help Center on x
What's an NFT profile picture?
@ssharwood Simon Sharwood on x
Says the man who sold a flamethrower and novelty tequila https://twitter.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
Let's decentralize the internet and cut out the gatekeepers! (Gatekeepers get cut out) Wait, no, not *those* gatekeepers! https://twitter.com/...
@alex_olney Alex Olney on x
This got a belly laugh out of me. https://twitter.com/...
@tante @tante on x
Working as intended. (I love how NFT people now follow the old industry path of basically demanding restrictive DRM as I predicted when these things emerged) https://twitter.com/...
@nick_craver Nick Craver on x
I for one am absolutely shocked that a decentralized system doesn't work in practice for basic uniqueness or verification constraints and users would end up be asking for what we'd refer to as a central authority for both. https://twitter.com/...
@wintonark Brett Winton on x
This ably demonstrates the paradox of web3: Why pay the high cost for decentralization when you ultimately require a centralized validator to deem which owned assets are “legitimately” owned? https://twitter.com/...

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