Screenshotting NFTs

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Part of a series on NFT / Non-Fungible Token / Crypto Art. [View Related Entries]

About

Screenshotting NFTs or NFT Screenshots became a concept in image macros, tweets, viral discussions and other memes starting in 2020. Memes made in line with the concept follow a skeptical ideology of NFT crypto art, similar to Right Click, Save As memes, suggesting that the collectibles are worthless and nonsensical because anyone can just screenshot the image and save it. Although NFT skeptics began raising the question of "being able to screenshot them" in early 2021, around the time NFTs became more mainstream, memes made about the concept appeared online as early as September 2020 on Twitter. The concept has increased in meme usage going into 2021 across platforms alongside the popularization of NFTs.

Origin

NFT skeptics raised the question of "screenshotting NFTs" as early as 2020, though the exact first is unknown. An example of this growing skepticism can be seen in a Twitter thread started by Twitter^[1] account @DCCockFoster on July 1st, 2020. The thread attempts to debunk the skeptical question "If I can just download the image file, why would I buy the NFT?" The thread goes on to detail an argument in 23 separate tweets, comparing NFTs to physical pieces of art, among other things. The thread received roughly 1,300 likes over a year and a half.

On September 27th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user @cryptonator1337 posted the first known meme related to screenshotting NFTs in the form of a tweet. The tweet (shown below) used the Surprised Pikachu meme format and received 14 likes over one year.

Spread

More internet users began to think about screenshotting NFTs going into 2021. On Reddit, Redditor Cheese-pickle made a post to the /r/NFT^[3] subreddit on February 28th, 2021, titled "My number one question about NFT’s: the screenshot issue."

On March 2nd, 2021, Twitter^[4] user @awilkinson posted a tweet saying "When an NFT is just an image, and you can screenshot that image and share it, what is the point of owning it?" The tweet received 724 likes over seven months. On March 5th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @Papapishu also tweeted about screenshotting NFTs. His tweet (shown below) received 46 likes over seven months.

Going into March 2021, more Twitter users began posting tweets about screenshotting NFTs as they become more mainstream. On March 11th, 2021, Twitter^[6] user @elliotiscoolguy tweeted "Screenshot my NFT and I'll tell my mom." His tweet received 61 likes over seven months. Twitter^[7] user @staple_god also tweeted about screenshotting NFTs on March 11th. Their tweet (shown below) received 54 likes over seven months.

The above tweet helped start a trend referencing the screenshotting of NFTs shortly after, which mimicked the style of Piracy, It's a Crime, an anti-piracy campaign launched by the Motion Picture Association in the mid-2000s. The meme mentioned was posted on April 14th, 2021, by Twitter^[8] user @joshuatopolsky who took the "You Wouldn't Download…" image and replaced the words with "You Wouldn't Screenshot An NFT." The meme (shown below) received roughly 8,600 likes over the course of six months.

The meme above began circulating other platforms like Instagram ^[9] and Facebook.^[10] More memes began to be made regarding the concept going in the rest of 2021. iFunny was one of the earliest platforms to adopt the concept in memes. The first "screenshotting NFTs" meme posted to iFunny was on May 20th, 2021, made by iFunnier^[11] @Oleana. However, a more notable screenshotting NFTs meme was posted to iFunny on September 11th, 2021, by iFunnier^[12] @Housen. The meme (shown below) received roughly 9,300 smiles over the course of one month.

Other screenshotting NFTs memes were posted on Instagram^[13]^[14] throughout 2021. Memes playing off the This Pic Goes So Hard, Feel Free To Screenshot trend also began to surface in regards to NFTs.^[15]

Video memes on TikTok began to surface in October 2021. For example, TikToker^[16] @ybramall914 posted a video on October 24th, 2021, of him rapidly screenshotting NFTs and saying "Greatest art heist of all time." The TikTok (shown below) received roughly 552,700 plays and 95,600 likes over the course of three days.