New Gateway Drug To EOS: Meme Community Shipple

cover image by bullshipplesMemes are much more powerful to the average person than any white paper, and in the future, the most widely adopted technology may not be the best available technology. It will most likely be the technology that is easiest for average people to use. History has shown us this lesson time and time again.

A new gateway drug to EOS has recently appeared and it is growing very fast. It’s called Shipple. The Shipple Basecamp Facebook page went from 0 to 1000 in just a few weeks. It was originally launched as a joke token, or joken, making fun of Ripple, but it has quickly morphed into much more than that.The Shipple community exists mostly on Facebook and its community has developed an EOS-based meme coin called SHIL.

Currently you cannot buy or sell SHIL on any exchanges, but there seems to be a little OTC (Over The Counter trading) going on. The vast majority of people earn SHIL by making memes, sharing stuff on Facebook, making ridiculous videos and completing Shil Missions. I talked to the founder of Shipple, Corey C. about plans to list SHIL on exchanges and he said, “We won’t even consider listing SHIL on any exchanges until Shipple Basecamp reaches 10,000 members.”

Check out the ways they help noobs get up to speed in EOS:

And this gives them clear directions on how to make a Shipple meme:

The strangest thing about this community is that a majority of the members are total crypto noobs, having never sent or owned any Bitcoin or any other crypto ever.

This is an odd occurrence, as anyone familiar with the crypto scene knows that noobs don’t usually make up the majority of members. The other odd thing is that most members are found on Facebook, as that is ground zero for Shipple Basecamp.

I reached out to a few people in the Shipple community who never had any exposure to Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency, in order to shed some light on the realities of EOS adoption and to learn what their experience was and why they decided to take the leap into crypto and specifically EOS. Instead of giving my opinion about this, here are there answers which have not been edited. Two people were interviewed and they are referred to as A and B.The most illuminating thing I learned from these two members is the following:

“A COMMUNITY is what gives a thing (anything) value.”

QUESTION 1: Was $SHIL the very first crypto you ever sent?

A: Yes! About three weeks before Shipple launched, Corey taught me how to set up an EOS account, and gifted me some MOM, a few other free tokens (which I did not understand), and paid me in EOS for some audio work I did. Then, when SHipple launched, I already knew (sort of) how to navigate and share it.

B: $SHIL was the very first crypto I ever exchanged! I knew absolutely nothing about crypto, the exchange, how any of it worked — other than hearing about Bitcoin on the news. Corey Cottrell introduced me to crypto through SHipple Basecamp.

QUESTION 2: What wallet did you first use?

A: The ONLY wallet! My EOS Lynx is my very first wallet.

B: One of the first posts I saw on Basecamp was about how to earn $10 in EOS by taking a tutorial on what cryptocurrency was, blockchains, the exchange, etc. so Coinbase was the first wallet I signed up for. Then Basecamp provided instructions on how to apply for an EOS Lynx wallet — because $SHIL would be airdropped and exchanged through Lynx.

QUESTION 3: How easy was it to make your EOS account?

A: I needed a little help. The problem for me was all the account naming and password management, and remembering what apps/websites I was using for what. Right now, ALL I use is EOS Lynx, BOID, Scatter, and of course, SHIPPLE BASECAMP.

B: Applying for an EOS Lynx wallet was fairly straight forward. I knew there were very specific steps that needed to be followed — and I was concerned about making a mistake — but for the most part, it wasn’t too difficult. The driver’s license photo was interesting; and at first I thought “oh wow — this is serious and now “they” have all of my personal information”. The confusing part was the recovery password and process; in addition to your regular log in info. and it stressed me out a bit. But I got through it okay.

QUESTION 4: What was the hardest thing about making your EOS account?

A: Without guidance, from a trusted friend, it WOULD have been worrying about getting scammed or hacked. Honestly, this who area of internet life reminds me of the early days of file sharing, when it would have been SUPER easy to get hacked and hurt. But Corey’s way of getting us involved, meeting with us, reassuring us about risks and safety was a huge help.

B: SHipple has been like a “gateway drug” of crypto, for lack of a better term, in regard to providing me with the information I needed to become knowledgeable about crypto basics; in an easy, open, and encouraging environment. It was like “Crypto for Dummies” in it’s simplicity without the “dummy” part. No question was too small and I had a forum where I could ask those questions without ever being made to feel subpar or stupid. With a good deal of us being noobs, we learned together about the exchange, how to create transactions (sending $SHIL to each other), and learning about other opportunities on the exchange.

QUESTION 5: What was the most confusing thing about EOS?

A: I thought the ONLY crypto currency that had actual cash value was Bitcoin! It took me a minute to ‘get’ exactly what EOS is…And I am still learning about it. I like analogies, and I am trying to find an analogy for Bitcoin/EOS. The closes I come is: EOS is to Bitcoin what Netscape Navigator & Email was to Microsoft Explorer & Exchange: More open, more user directed, and open to use for many things. Now, I am seeing d’apps, dmail, games…A whole BUNCH of stuff…All user and innovator made. Good stuff!

B: The confusing part was the recovery password and process; in addition to your regular log in info. and it stressed me out a bit. But I got through it okay.

QUESTION 6: What role did Shipple play in making you comfortable with learning about crypto and if Shipple wasn’t created how likely would you be to use EOS?

A: It is the ENTIRE story, for me: Shipple reminds me of Monopoly or The Game of Life…Where you are using play money/property deeds/insurance policies to learn about real world economic concepts. It allowed me to learn how to navigate, track, value, and trade without risking actual money (of which I have very little). I likely would not be using EOS, or, for that matter, doing ANY crypto stuff. As I said, I was leery about security trying to learn a thing that is so complex.

B: In all honesty, if I hadn’t been invited to be a part of SHipple Basecamp from the beginning, and we didn’t have Corey and Dino as the driving force behind the concept and idea of creating this platform as a learning ground, I wouldn’t be involved in EOS at all.

QUESTION 8: Any other ideas you want to share about the experience of being a crypto noob?

A: Get in on it! Find a group of people who are patient, and know more than you, and learn new stuff! This time reminds me of the early internet days. I was driving through my town, saw a park bench with a www.whatever.com address on it, and it hit me: THIS IS THE NEXT BIG THING. I am beginning to understand that crypto has world changing potential. Recent innovations like micro loans in south Asia, and Twitter being the locus for the Green Spring protesters to get the word out to the world tell me the ground is shifting under “old” economics and statehood systems. I am also sure it will be chaotic, and there will be problems. I am REALLY excited that you are interested in Shipple, and our idea: A COMMUNITY is what gives a thing (anything) value.

B: Because of what Corey and Dino, and now Greg, have built; are building — the possibilities are limitless. The feeling is that we’re creating a platform where like-minded individuals can come together as a community and use crypto and the exchange as a means to make the world a better place; through sharing knowledge, fostering charity, developing purposeful ideas to move things forward. Whether environmentally, socially, or economically. It’s an incredible experience that I am looking forward to growing with and being a contributor to…Lastly, SHipple has made me feel excited about crypto; eliminated most of the mystery about it, and has expanded my own ideas of what we can do with it.

Thank you so much to the Shipple community and the respondants of this questionnaire. If you’re an EOS OG (Original Gangster), there are lots of lessons in this. Making people feel comfortable and giving them play money is super important. From my observations and research, most people are still scared of crypto and this is especially true if they don’t have much money to lose. Giving people play money is a great way to get people feeling comfortable with the EOS ecosystem.If you’re interested in learning what Shipple is, watch this video by the Shipple creator:

Or just check out Shipple on social media:

Shipple Basecamp on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/440993556684878

Shipple Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shippleio

Shipple Telegram: https://t.me/shippleio

Cheers!

Stella

New Gateway Drug To EOS: Meme Community Shipple was originally published in HackerNoon.com on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.