The new feature Actions & Blinks recently launched by @Solana has sparked debate from different schools of thought.
For a detailed explanation of the new features, please refer to this official document: https://solana.com/docs/advanced/actions
To put it simply, taking the current test field as an example, when the user turns on this feature in the Solana plug-in wallet in the browser, when browsing Twitter, he can directly interact with posts with this feature embedded on the current page (buy tokens/vote/stake/NFT minting...).
By using plug-ins to reach out to traditional centralized social platforms, we can truly "Use Solana, everywhere."
Some say it is a revolutionary innovative experience that will bring endless possibilities, while others say it is merely a superficial improvement in the operational convenience of PC users.
However, in the short term, any comments that tend to "extremely praise/extremely belittle" are not objective.
Strong praise: Actions & Blinks can quickly attract customers to the crypto market
Simplifying crypto trading operations is not the main shovel to attract traditional Web2 users
It is not realistic to say that once this feature is released, it will immediately become a tool for mass adoption, opening the floodgates for converting all Web2 natives on Twitter and even other channels into crypto players.
Crypto is not a new topic in the world outside the Great Firewall. The reason why people do not join is because of the subjective negative impressions such as "Ponzi scheme" and "high risk". In addition, the current world economic situation is still turbulent, and everyone is holding their money bags waiting for the Fed's interest rate cut news to fall. It is difficult to try and squander, let alone throw money into a dark jungle full of traps.
Traditional Web2 users will not suddenly think that they want to trade cryptocurrencies and become cryptocurrency users just because there are a few one-click transaction buttons under the post for their convenience.
Extremely negative: The function does not cover mobile users, and the changes it can bring are just self-indulgent fantasies with little effect.
Even if it cannot cover mobile phone users for the time being, it cannot erase the positive driving force it brings to the crypto world
If you say that this feature is just icing on the cake for PC users, but does not really address the pain points of increasingly popular Mobile users, and will not bring any qualitative or quantitative leap to the trading market, I also disagree.
First of all, the core of Blinks is the function installed in the browser wallet plug-in, which means it is not limited to the Twitter platform.
We can clearly see in this cycle that meme/celebrity tokens, as the most lightweight carriers that are easiest to go viral, have attracted many overseas business/political/celebrity circles to participate in Crypto discussions.
In the future, on more existing social platforms such as Reddit, 4chan, and even more emerging platforms, the innovative combinations that Blinks can bring will still be unlimited and full of imagination.
We cannot simply deny the changes it can bring just because it does not meet the mobile phone operating environment.
Imagine that some day in the future, a golden dog meme suddenly becomes popular. In such a competitive time, after you get on the bus, in order to get everyone around you to follow the bus, instead of giving them a CA to guide them to move to DEX/BOT operations, it would be easier and more direct to just send them a link to the founder's post with Blinks embedded in it, so that they can complete the transaction in the blink of an eye?
Actions & Blinks Other Application Scenarios
Meme trading is just one of the most easy-to-understand application examples that Blinks can bring.
Yesterday, Solana co-founder @rajgokal retweeted @thesendcoin, which is a good example of how to use it: https://x.com/thesendcoin/status/1806358964705096024
For example: event prediction/proposal voting/multi-signature transaction reminder/empty investment qualification check/page mini-game/NFT casting...
To be honest, I believe that Chinese people will not be surprised by these listed application scenarios.
After all, how to cram functional interactions into an APP or even a page is something that domestic Internet companies have left behind.
For example, TikTok was initially just a streaming media platform that turned the acquired Musical.ly into a Chinese localized short video recommendation platform. Later, it continued to add functions such as "e-commerce/group buying/takeout/social networking", expanding into what it is today, a unique existence independent of ByteDance, and even successfully going overseas to expand its unlimited territory into a huge business group.
If you open any Tik Tok video now, the forwarding button in the lower right corner has evolved into countless extended interactive functions such as "take a photo together", "watch videos with Tik Tok friends", and "appreciate videos".
Fundamentally, it is to increase the interaction between people. With more connection paths and more ways to play, the time/money that users are willing to invest in this field will naturally increase proportionally.
Taking Meme coin as an example, Solana now integrates the steps of "founder/team initiation" + "social media viral exposure" + "interactive purchase" that a meme needs to go through into your Twitter interface, and you can even get commissions from other people's purchases.
The touch points of interaction between people are also amplified exponentially.
Rather than saying, as founder Anatoly said, that the launch of this feature can turn traditional social media platforms into Solana L2, it is better to explain it in a more down-to-earth way:
This adds casino qualities to the already addictive nature of social media, allowing users to keep up with every wave of crypto in the blink of an eye.
Solana, which is very "playful", uses innovation to "recognize" and strives to retain users in the crypto world
Since I finished writing "Ethereum and the "Killers" Who Covet It" in March, I have become more and more fond of the Solana team and the entire ecosystem while searching for information and researching.
When chatting with a friend @0x_ZK_ who has experience in starting a crypto project and is very optimistic about Solana, he said, "The common feature of the powerful To C chains in this cycle is that the foundation/team is very similar to a company, such as Solana, Base, and Ton."
I think this is very correct. The interpretation of this is that they have the open-minded mindset of those early Silicon Valley incubator companies. They will not stick to their inherent illnesses and wait for death. They will not think about patching up the ready-made deck templates in the past to seek stability. They are bold in overturning, dare to try and make mistakes, and do not mind starting over.
Take Solana as an example. They intentionally weaken the foundation's identity that seems high and mighty to the outside world, and are more down to earth to research how to do PMF (Product Market Fit, referring to products that match user needs). They are also willing to roll up their sleeves and hold hackathons for projects within the ecosystem, and mobilize resources to support good projects.
Just like the old OGs always joke that the "Internet product idea centered on user experience" of cryptocurrency projects has been falsified. Only when a project has good financial/asset logic can it be a pump that drives a huge wealth effect.
——It is interpreted as no matter how easy your product is to operate, it is of little significance in a world that still belongs to niche application scenarios; no matter how gorgeous the white paper is, most users cannot understand it and will not read it, so it is better to highlight what capital title is supporting it, how much money has been raised, and what proportion of the token economic model is stated to be returned to users.
It is because there are too many inconsistencies in the previous rounds of narratives that the funds in the market have no confidence, and there are occasional comments about withdrawal. Only this group of people who come and go are left in the extreme PVP internal competition, fighting against various project parties (in fact, they are counter-moneyed), and even the big whales have expressed their indignation at being cut.
If you don’t have confidence in the field, how can you reach the CX outsiders?
You keep rubbing the bottles and drying them in the sun, but they are still antique bottles. How can you convince people that you can put new wine in them and that the taste of the wine brewed this time can really be different?
This is why this cycle is called the "ETF bull" - the price fluctuations in the market often come from information related to various BTC/ETH ETFs. Any rumors or remarks from large institutions can cause retail investors to rush to throw away and pick up their chips.
But because of this,
Because people in the field lack confidence and want to leave, and because people outside the field don't understand and dare not come in,
This is why the series of new gameplay and new initiatives launched by Solana are so important.
You can say that it is not some unprecedented innovation, but being able to turn verbal ideas into products shows that the team has been active on the front line, solving problems from the perspective of C-end users, shortening the interaction path to the extreme, and improving user experience to the extreme. Now the ambition has even expanded to grab a bite of the hot bot product market.
It is a good thing that the team is still doing things. It is a good thing that the team is still trying to find new things to attract people to stay. It is an even better thing that the team is going deep into the retail investors and standing with everyone.
It can amplify "playfulness" and "novelty", remain forever young and full of vitality, and constantly renew its blood, delivering it to every branch. Countless fulcrums fall on each C-end user, ourselves.
Whether it is a project within the Solana ecosystem or an initiative launched by the team itself, it seems to let everyone know: Don’t be discouraged, Crypto is still fun here, no matter what other chains do, we are willing to play with you, and we will make it more and more fun.
