Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs

The digital innovation accompanied by explicit economic incentives have fundamentally changed the process of innovation diffusion. As a representative of digital innovation, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) potentially offer new revenue streams in the digital space. However, current researches mainly focu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhe LI, Tianfang ZHAO, Hongjun ZHU
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tsinghua University Press 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Social Computing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/JSC.2024.0029
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850029375120998400
author Zhe LI
Tianfang ZHAO
Hongjun ZHU
author_facet Zhe LI
Tianfang ZHAO
Hongjun ZHU
author_sort Zhe LI
collection DOAJ
description The digital innovation accompanied by explicit economic incentives have fundamentally changed the process of innovation diffusion. As a representative of digital innovation, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) potentially offer new revenue streams in the digital space. However, current researches mainly focus on transaction networks and community culture, leaving the interplay among diffusion dynamics, economic dynamics, and social constraints on Twitter. By collecting and analyzing NFTs-related tweet dataset, the motivations of retweeters, the information mechanisms behind emojis, and the networked-based diffusion dynamics is systematically investigated. Results indicate that Retweeting is fueled by Freemint and trading information, with the higher economic incentives as a major motivation and some potential organizational tendencies. The diffusion of NFTs is primarily driven by a “Ringed-layered” information mechanism involving individual promoters and speculators. The presentation of content contribute positively to the growth of the retweet network. This study contributes to the innovation diffusion theory with economic incentives embedded.
format Article
id doaj-art-2508aac325534aacbe7fa25d002a607c
institution DOAJ
issn 2688-5255
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Tsinghua University Press
record_format Article
series Journal of Social Computing
spelling doaj-art-2508aac325534aacbe7fa25d002a607c2025-08-20T02:59:32ZengTsinghua University PressJournal of Social Computing2688-52552024-12-015438540210.23919/JSC.2024.0029Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTsZhe LI0Tianfang ZHAO1Hongjun ZHU2School of Journalism and Communication, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100102, ChinaCollege of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, Jinan 510632, ChinaInstitute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100102, China. He is also with the School of Journalism and Communication, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100732, ChinaThe digital innovation accompanied by explicit economic incentives have fundamentally changed the process of innovation diffusion. As a representative of digital innovation, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) potentially offer new revenue streams in the digital space. However, current researches mainly focus on transaction networks and community culture, leaving the interplay among diffusion dynamics, economic dynamics, and social constraints on Twitter. By collecting and analyzing NFTs-related tweet dataset, the motivations of retweeters, the information mechanisms behind emojis, and the networked-based diffusion dynamics is systematically investigated. Results indicate that Retweeting is fueled by Freemint and trading information, with the higher economic incentives as a major motivation and some potential organizational tendencies. The diffusion of NFTs is primarily driven by a “Ringed-layered” information mechanism involving individual promoters and speculators. The presentation of content contribute positively to the growth of the retweet network. This study contributes to the innovation diffusion theory with economic incentives embedded.https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/JSC.2024.0029innovation diffusionincentive embeddeddigital economicsocial networknfts
spellingShingle Zhe LI
Tianfang ZHAO
Hongjun ZHU
Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
Journal of Social Computing
innovation diffusion
incentive embedded
digital economic
social network
nfts
title Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
title_full Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
title_fullStr Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
title_full_unstemmed Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
title_short Gathering for Free: Embedding Economic Incentives in Social Networks Shape the Diffusion of NFTs
title_sort gathering for free embedding economic incentives in social networks shape the diffusion of nfts
topic innovation diffusion
incentive embedded
digital economic
social network
nfts
url https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/JSC.2024.0029
work_keys_str_mv AT zheli gatheringforfreeembeddingeconomicincentivesinsocialnetworksshapethediffusionofnfts
AT tianfangzhao gatheringforfreeembeddingeconomicincentivesinsocialnetworksshapethediffusionofnfts
AT hongjunzhu gatheringforfreeembeddingeconomicincentivesinsocialnetworksshapethediffusionofnfts