Notes: ENS Office Hours Twitter Space - Jan 26th, 2023 @ 2PM ET | Recording
A space to discuss nftychat and connecting with web3 frENS. 168 tuned in to listen.
Hosted by: @sadaf.eth and @zadok7
Featuring: @Slobo.eth
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Pinned Tweets
- nfty’s nifty twitter widget
- Nftychat allows you to have token gated chats with frENS
- anyone else tired of the web3 spam they get in their discord DMs?
- user profiles unlike any other
- gated rooms
- allowlisted rooms
- Public Goods small grants
- Working Group funding requests
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Introductions
- @sadaf.eth (Sadaf), Community Advocate, ENS Labs
- @zadok7 (Vincent), Community Manager, ENS Labs
- @Slobo.eth (Alex Slobodnik), founder of nftychat, ENS Ecosystem steward and delegate
Notes
Nftychat aims to be the web3-native alternative to Discord.
After searching for a way to chat from my ENS name, I wasn’t able to find an easy way to do it. I wanted to chat in a way that is similar Discord, so I started building nftychat.
The data portability in web3 really resonates with people. Being able to take your profile and contacts with you across platforms is a big deal.
What made you choose ENS specifically over other name services?
It was clear to me that ENS was the decentralized naming protocol. The ability to import DNS names shows that the team is building ENS for the future. Also, the branding from vitalik.eth was a big influence. Building on any other name protocol just wouldn’t make sense to me if I were to start over.
What is your favorite feature of the nftychat platform?
The gm feature. Anyone who logs in can click a little gm and get a mini celebration with confetti. This reinforces the feeling that web3 is a global community. Users can say gm without clogging up the main chat. gm is the essence of web3.
Other features include a gas tracker, display of the number of users online, and a direct link to Twitter. These aren’t just cool features we are throwing together to see what works. nftychat is trying to bring the best of web3 and web2 together.
Can we hear more about the music sharing implementation? Why did you choose to go with Audius and what is the idea behind a decentralized music platform?
One experience that brings communities together is listening to the same music. I like music and people like music. Why not see if we can just chill together and listen to music we enjoy? We picked Audius because it is a web3 platform for music. We did not want to use Spotify.
I know that you are a big fan of POAP. What can people do in the POAP chat room?
We created the POAP chat community before we had gating for POAP as a way to showcase the possibility. POAP becomes a way to offer someone you’ve met in real life a way for them to chat with you later, almost like a mini binding event. POAP as a gating mechanism is probably best for temporary things, such as gating during IRL events. We had people run an easter egg hunt using a POAP gated room. When you give people the power to easily gate rooms, you get novel behaviors that are just beginning. POAP is a great way to remember and monitor who you’ve met.
Can you explore the capabilities of gating functionality?
Right now on nftychat you can gate a room based on ERC-20 tokens or NFT collections. For example, you can gate to require holding a certain amount of an ERC-20 token, such as $ENS, or you can gate for holders of a particular NFT collection, such as Bored Apes. The third way you can gate is with the typical allow list, by entering a list of allowed name/wallet addresses. There are also tools to create VIP rooms for such uses as creating an exclusive room for moderators.
What is the human need that nftychat is solving?
People want to find their homies. People want to find the people that they can relate to and share content and have discussions with them. People want to find others that share a common interest, which the gating feature solves. It brings like-minded people together and facilitates a safe space to foster relationships.
Can you tell us more about how the profile page draws people together and allows them to create a brand identity?
The richness of your profile on nftychat is pulled from your wallet and your ENS record information. It shows your avatar, NFT collection, and your ENS text records. You don’t have to enter anything that is already in your ENS records. It will be displayed automatically, which greatly reduces friction for the user.
In your profile, you can also select which languages you speak and which languages you can read. Your time zone can also be displayed as part of your profile. These features are helpful for finding content that is relevant to your interests and personality.
You are very involved in ENS DAO, as both a steward and a delegate. Can you tell us how nftychat helps users stay up-to-date and involved with ENS?
If you are already participating in ENS, even if just by owning a .eth name, nftychat displays a live stream of voting activity. Not a lot of people know about the DAO and understand the differences, so we try to show them and expose them to what activities are taking place in the DAO.
The ENS DAO Newsletter is also a great way to stay up-to-date with what is happening in ENS DAO. New editions are published on the 1st and 15th of every month, and contain details of the latest governance proposals, ENS small grants, and other ENS developments and news. The newsletter is designed to be accessible to the widest possible audience.
Can you tell us about the Dune integration in nftychat?
We wanted a live feed that shows what ENS names are being registered in real time. If there is any kind of data feed you can get from Dune, you can integrate it in nftychat.
If you own an NFT that is for sale, you can post it in nftychat and it can be bought directly through the platform. Nftychat will show a preview and allow others to buy it without having to leave the application.
Can we hear more about the nftychat messaging system?
You can send a direct message from any wallet to any wallet, even without using an ENS name. There are currently several competing standards and protocols for this, and we built nftychat in a way that we can plug in to any of them. You can send a message in seconds from within nftychat, simply by clicking the plus button in the DM window and entering their ENS name or wallet address. We have an integration with ENS.Vision that allows anyone to send offers or other messages to domain holders. We also recently released a web browser notification feature. If your web browser allows notifications, you can enable them for nftychat.
What will people be able to do with subdomains with the Name Wrapper?
One of the first things you can do with ENS on nftychat is set your primary name. When the Name Wrapper is released, we want to be able to offer free subdomains. When the Name Wrapper is mature enough, we would like to offer free subdomains under the parent name nfty.eth. Apps like nftychat can be the thing that gets people onboarded to ENS via issuing them subdomains. I believe many other companies will hand out free subdomains. In short, I am excited for the Name Wrapper, and I believe that nftychat will be the leading platform to utilize it.
Will subdomain users be able to set up their profiles the same way that they can with a parent name?
Subdomains will have all of the same functionality and features as parent ENS names. Subdomains are first-class citizens on nftychat.
What advice do you have for other builders in the space?
To quote Nike… just do it. The longer you spend in the research phase, the less you are doing. I personally learn better through doing. With anything that you would like to do in life, don’t be afraid to just jump in and start experimenting. Anyone can set up a community on nftychat, and I encourage anyone to try.
What can we look forward to as a community in 2023?
We will keep building and improving our iOS app, and we will be giving away subdomains using the Name Wrapper, so anyone who joins will have a name like slobo.nfty.eth.
Android, desktop, and better notifications are all on the roadmap for 2023.
If anyone needs any help with nftychat, DM Slobo on the Website or Twitter.
For any ENS support, reach out in the ENS Discord at chat.ens.domains, or DM the main ENS twitter account.