Does a Toddler Need an NFT?

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that rates the age appropriateness of media and technology, gives Zigazoo high marks for its lack of images of violence, drugs and “sexy stuff.” There are no comments on the app, only positive-reinforcement mechanisms, and each video is moderated by a human being. But though Common Sense’s review states that consumerism is “not present” on the app, it is everywhere. Every time I opened Zigazoo, I learned that I had earned more “Zigabucks,” the platform’s in-app currency, for dutifully visiting every day. Also, I was constantly prompted to care about Zigazoo’s latest NFT drop: images featuring JJ, the cartoon infant star of CoComelon.

CoComelon is a wildly popular YouTube channel featuring crudely rendered C.G.I. videos and repetitive nursery rhymes, like “Dentist Song” and “Pasta Song.” Though it has no discernible value beyond its ability to hypnotize toddlers for long stretches of time, it has taken over the world; recently the brand partnered with the Saudi government to construct a physical CoComelon village in Riyadh, perhaps as a part of Saudi Arabia’s larger public-relations effort to become known for something other than torturing dissidents. (Let’s call that “practicing essential geopolitical skills.”)

Anyway, children love it: The CoComelon NFTs were sold out before I could snag one, so I waited for the Qai Qai NFTs to drop, watching the countdown clock on the Zigazoo app for my moment to “invest.” Qai Qai’s NFTs were selling for $5.99 to $49.99 a pack, with more cash buying you a higher likelihood of acquiring not just a “common” NFT but a “rare” or “legendary” one, a distinction that went unexplained. (Though every Zigazoo NFT is linked to a unique digital record on the Flow blockchain, the app did not make clear how many of these records it was assigning to each Qai Qai image, which makes it even harder to guess just how worthless it might be in the future.) I selected a “rare” pack of Qai Qai collectibles for $19.99, answered a “Parents only!” multiple-choice multiplication problem to prove I was an adult (although I knew my multiplication tables better when I was a kid), and ultimately was rewarded with four still images of Qai Qai and one “rare” repeating video of Qai Qai executing the “Heel Toe Dance.”

Over the next few days, I was invited to trade my NFTs with other users and participate in NFT-related challenges like “#QaiQaiDrop: What new toy are you hoping to get?” and “CoComelon: Can you show us your favorite pajamas?” Each challenge’s “winner” was rewarded with yet more NFTs. The real challenge in this case appears to be to “express yourself by helping to hype a new tech gimmick to a younger class of consumers.” This concluded my NFT education on Zigazoo.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/arts/nft-zigazoo-qai-qai.html