Membership isn’t just “subscription by another name” (though it’s often referenced that way), or about giving consumers access to a product. It’s participation in a larger cause that reflects what they want to see in civil society. In membership, there’s a different social contract or value proposition between the site and its members.
if you’ve got your identity tied to an Ethereum address, and you’ve got a Beeple in there, that’s no different than someone walking into your house and seeing a Picasso, in a lot of ways.
But if Twitter can understand its place in the media ecosystem—as a wayfinder of sorts for a sea of Internet content—and if it can pivot to a business model that better serves its most valuable users, it can better align cultural value and financial value. It can begin to capitalize on its potential.
Easier said than done, community members are often confused with followers, users, subscribers, and customers. While the latter are passive and transient, the former are passionately engaged in a give-and-take with the brand and other members of the community.