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IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING / 012
ESSAY 012

The Future of Digital Collectibles: Why Internet Artifacts Matter

The monkey jpegs died — the case for preserving internet culture didn't.
BY LAKE AIRDROPIT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING

NFTs came and went. But digital ownership isn't dead— the monkey avatar scam just kinda missed the point.

In a world where social media platforms rise and fall, digital culture is constantly being erased.

Yet, these artifacts hold real cultural value.

Having a rare meme, an original viral clip, or a deleted tweet feels valuable in a conversation—just like owning a rare vinyl or first-edition book (ok maybe not *just* like… but it matters!)

I think a big part of why the monkey avatars and all the other NFTs failed was because they tried to assign financial value to digital art without the cultural context that gives art meaning.

But what if digital collectibles weren't about speculation?

Instead, their value could come from:

We are already creating digital artifacts every day.

Memes, tweets, videos, and posts become part of internet history—but only if they're preserved.

As the internet keeps shifting, digital artifacts will only become more valuable—not just monetarily, but culturally.

Maybe someday someone builds a platform that capitalizes on this shift.

Hopefully they don't immediately use it to try to take over th- nvm. But I think it would be cool

IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING · 012
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