Twitter Introduces NFT-Based Profile Pictures, And Users Aren't Happy

NFT is still booming, and people want to be part of the crowd.

Not only cryptocurrency enthusiasts or blockchain-related product users that can come across some NFT-related news, as the technology has gone way beyond just that. And Twitter is among those who wish to play a role in this trend.

And in this case, the microblogging platform is introducing an NFT-based profile picture, because it simply can, and why not?

With the feature, Twitter hopes to help bring the technology to the mainstream market.

As one of the most influential platforms on the internet, Twitter becomes the first major platform to introduce this kind of feature.

The feature works by allowing users who have bought or minted an NFT on an Etherum-based marketplace, can set it as their profile picture.

NFT-based profile pictures are distinguishable because they appear in a hexagon frame, rather than the traditional circle.

This is made possible because Twitter can link users' cryptocurrency wallet, and display any NFTs they own in their profile.

At first, the cryptocurrency wallets Twitter is supporting, include: Argent, Coinbase Wallet, Ledger Live, MetaMask, Rainbow, and Trust Wallet.

This feature, at least initially, does have some limitations.

For example, users have to have the Twitter Blue subscription. This is extremely limited because at this time, it is only available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The next limitation, is that users must have an iOS-powered device to be able to set an NFT as a profile picture.

This feature should make enthusiasts happy.

After all, NFTs as profile pictures mean that Twitter is following the trend by adding real utility for verified digital items.

The trouble is, it didn’t go down well with the majority of its users.

While Twitter thought this might be a great idea, a lot of users were unhappy with this feature.

And these people include Elon Musk, who thinks that the limited functionality of the feature is annoying, in which it would make people with hexagon avatars a bit more entitled.

Because users are also irritated, a number of developers have even started building bots to block anyone with a hexagon profile automatically.

As for NFT enthusiasts and advocates, many of them are also not impressed.

According to them, Twitter in launching the feature exclusive to iOS users is frustrating to those who don't own iOS devices, as they couldn’t set their pre-owned NFTs as profile pictures.

Another concern, is about the verification of NFTs. At least as the moment of the introduction, Twitter just checks if an NFT is linked to users' wallet. This makes it difficult for Twitter users to differentiate NFTs that are part of an exclusive collection at a glance.

Making things worse for Twitter, hours after the rollout, the APIs for OpenSea, the popular NFT marketplace, were down. This resulted in some Twitter users who have NFT profile pictures to see blank images as their profile pictures.

Twitter is far from the first tech company experimenting with NFT support. Unfortunately, Twitter gets ridiculed.