Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author|南枳(@Assassin_Malvo)

Last week, Solana and Dialect launched a new feature called Blinks. Some see it as a groundbreaking way for Solana to grow, while others believe that it will only lead to more fraud. The discussion on how to use this new feature, how to integrate it with other platforms like X, and its true utility is still ongoing. In this article, Odaily will explore the real-world applications of Blinks.

Exploring the Underlying Logic

In what ways does it work?

This section only discusses the X platform (Twitter). As a social web platform, the use case of the X platform is for a small number of users to publish project information (such as basic project information, data, progress, etc.) and opinions (such as research reports, advocacy, etc.), while most users go to this platform to obtain information and opinions.

And in terms of content characteristics, it has

• High immediacy, the information users see in the information flow is generally the information within the latest period, occasionally early information is triggered by replies from followed users;
• Strong fission, as long as the project party uses the method of inducing forwarding, it can achieve a wide range of dissemination, second only to instant messaging applications and short video platforms;
• Moderate personalization, the followed objects are self-selected by users, and X platform has started to incorporate content recommendation algorithms, but currently the content produced is still mainly based on self-selected followed objects.

The actions of crypto users can be summarized as "collecting information in personal attention or from the immediate information flow from the split as the basis for further long and short-term investment decisions." Therefore, I believe that "immediacy" and "facilitating the purchase of valuable information" are the real battlefield of Blinks.

The term "real-time" refers to the shortest time for users to receive information, and it also becomes the fastest in terms of operation with Blinks. "Promoting the purchase of valuable information" means making readers feel "I need this information" through content, and using Blinks to shorten their thinking and operation time to prompt them to place an order.

At what stage does it play a role?

If we simplify the sales of a product into three steps: reaching new users, converting new users, and awakening/renewing old users, where does Blinks take effect?

• Reaching new users: Whether it is through self-promotion, advertising, or referral, they are not within the scope of Blinks' own functions. Although Meteora and Raydium have specifically developed a commission function for Blinks to enhance the enthusiasm of publication, the author believes that due to security and insufficient information, this module should still be attributed to the platform that Blinks relies on. The first key issue is to choose the platform on which Blinks is built and obtain a sufficient user base.
• Converting new users: Why can shopping on short video platforms rise? Minimizing the purchase process after reaching the user's mind is a key factor. After reaching the target user and making them discover a certain feature that is exactly what they need, the author believes that Blinks directly invoking the wallet payment can effectively improve the conversion rate. Potential cases will be discussed in the next section.
• Old user awakening: The personalized attention overlay of X platform has the possibility of long-term reach, which can effectively awaken old users and has a certain effect in small expenditure or non-payment scenarios.

Potential Use Case Exploration

Divide the operations of Crypto users into three categories: investment, consumption, and others for profit. The first two involve a wide range of areas, while others, such as community governance, decentralized social networking, chain games, etc., are usually completed through their own platforms without involving X platform, which will not be discussed here.

Investment with Profit as the Goal

In such scenarios, users either require specific information or have speed requirements, or they require sufficient depth. Depth information often involves large investments, and it's difficult to trust a direct payment link without thorough background checks. So, the first option is ruled out.

And the high speed of information often corresponds to early Meme tokens. Under what circumstances are users willing or dare to purchase? ** One situation is that the information source has sufficient credibility, and the other is that the story has great hype potential, allowing users to see the opportunity to win big with a small investment. **

The BOME and SLERF that appeared in March correspond to the above two types respectively:

Darkfarms, as an artist with a history of projects endorsing PEPE, can effectively attract user participation when using Blinks to build donation or purchase channels. Other credible individuals or organizations can also use Blinks to facilitate conversion.

SLERF corresponds to the transformation of speculative narrative. Although it is not well-known, when receiving a high frequency of related event bombardment in the instant information flow on the X platform, a direct and fastest investment participation channel is exactly what users need.

However, whether it is a highly credible source of information or a breakthrough narrative, the proportion is quite small, and the higher the investment amount, the lower the conversion rate that can be achieved. Therefore, Blinks do not have a high average benefit in such scenarios.

Consumption

The author believes that consumption is the scene where Blinks can be widely applied. Personalized recommendations filter user groups, ensuring a potential buyer base. The combination with content can 'penetrate the user's mind' and achieve conversion through the shortest path, from 'clicking on the small yellow car below the video' to 'clicking on Blinks below the article to make a purchase'. Especially in value-added services, inducement purchases, and small-scale consumption, examples are as follows:

Value-added service: After Odaily releases the article "Inventory of next week's token unlocking" click on Blinks below to purchase advanced analysis "Will XX token explode or dump before unlocking based on historical data of 20 unlockings".

Inductive purchase: After using transaction methods such as Chan theory, wave theory, Vist spiral, and Fibonacci for rigorous calculation, I discovered a wonderful bottom fishing point. Click on the Blinks below to purchase the winning secret.

Small consumption: Quick bets on whether Trump or Biden will be elected president, and an artist releases Blinks Mint link, etc.

When a project provides valuable information to users through this form, due to the repeatable reachability of X platform, it can effectively achieve the awakening and payment of old users when the next Blinks of the same project appear.

Community Approach

@thesendcoin has released a series of community visions for Blinks on the X platform. In this section, the author presents some valuable or more negative thoughts on Blinks.

Practical

prediction market

Airdrop checker

Paid Chat (Superchats)

Community draw attention and conversion

Pay to access content

Advanced NFT Operations

Negative

Private messages require multiple verifications of identity and still need to ensure the accuracy of the link, which is not very meaningful.

Direct sales, there is currently basically no NFT separate premium sales demand in the market.

Destroying (useless) NFTs and tokens involves too many tokens, which raises doubts about whether valuable coins will be affected.