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TikTok Parents Are Taking Advantage of Their Kids. It Needs to Stop
TikTok Parents Are Taking Advantage of Their Kids. It Needs to Stop
Rachel Barkman's son started accurately identifying different species of mushroom at the age of 2. Together they'd go out into the mossy woods near her home in Vancouver and forage. When it came to occasionally sharing in her TikTok videos her son's enthusiasm and skill for picking mushrooms, she didn't think twice about it -- they captured a few cute moments, and many of her 350,000-plus followers seemed to like it.
That was until last winter, when a female stranger approached them in the forest, bent down and addressed her son, then 3, by name and asked if he could show her some mushrooms.
"I immediately went cold at the realization that I had equipped complete strangers with knowledge of my son that puts him at risk," Barkman said in an interview this past June.
This incident, combined with research into the dangers of sharing too much, made her reevaluate her son's presence online. Starting at the beginning of this year, she vowed not to feature his face in future content.
"My decision was fueled by a desire to protect my son, but also to protect and respect his identity and privacy, because he has a right to choose the way he is shown to the world," she said.
These kinds of dangers have cropped up alongside the rise in child influencers, such as 10-year-old Ryan Kaji of Ryan's World, who has almost 33 million subscribers, with various estimates putting his net worth in the multiple tens of millions of dollars. Increasingly, brands are looking to use smaller, more niche, micro- and nano-influencers, developing popular accounts on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to reach their audiences. And amid this influencer gold rush there's a strong incentive for parents, many of whom are sharing photos and videos of their kids online anyway, to get in on the action.
The increase in the number of parents who manage accounts for their kids -- child influencers' parents are often referred to as "sharents" -- opens the door to exploitation or other dangers. With almost no industry guardrails in place, these parents find themselves in an unregulated wild west. They're the only arbiters of how much exposure their children get, how much work their kids do, and what happens to money earned through any content they feature in.
Instagram didn't respond to multiple requests for comment about whether it takes any steps to safeguard child influencers. A representative for TikTok said the company has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation and pointed to policies to protect accounts of users under the age of 16. But these policies don't apply to parents posting with or on behalf of their children. YouTube didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"When parents share about their children online, they act as both the gatekeeper -- the one tasked with protecting a child's personal information -- and as the gate opener," said Stacey Steinberg, a professor of law at the University of Florida and author of the book Growing Up Shared. As the gate opener, "they benefit, gaining both social and possibly financial capital by their online disclosures."
The reality is that some parents neglect the gatekeeping and leave the gate wide open for any internet stranger to walk through unchecked. And walk through they do.
Meet the sharents
Mollie is an aspiring dancer and model with an Instagram following of 122,000 people. Her age is ambiguous but she could be anywhere from 11-13, meaning it's unlikely she's old enough to meet the social media platform's minimum age requirement. Her account is managed by her father, Chris, whose own account is linked in her bio, bringing things in line with Instagram's policy. (Chris didn't respond to a request for comment.)
You don't have to travel far on Instagram to discover accounts such as Mollie's, where grown men openly leer at preteen girls. Public-facing, parent-run accounts dedicated to dancers and gymnasts -- who are under the age of 13 and too young to have accounts of their own -- number in the thousands. (To protect privacy, we've chosen not to identify Mollie, which isn't her real name, or any other minors who haven't already appeared in the media.)
Parents use these accounts, which can have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, to raise their daughters' profiles by posting photos of them posing and demonstrating their flexibility in bikinis and leotards. The comment sections are often flooded with sexualized remarks. A single, ugly word appeared under one group shot of several young girls in bikinis: "orgy."
Some parents try to contain the damage by limiting comments on posts that attract too much attention. The parent running one dancer account took a break from regular scheduling to post a pastel-hued graphic reminding other parents to review their followers regularly. "After seeing multiple stories and posts from dance photographers we admire about cleaning up followers, I decided to spend time cleaning," read the caption. "I was shocked at how many creeps got through as followers."
But "cleaning up" means engaging in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole to keep unwanted followers at bay, and it ignores the fact that you don't need to be following a public account to view the posts. Photos of children are regularly reposted on fan or aggregator accounts, over which parents have no control, and they can also be served up through hashtags or through Instagram's discovery algorithms.
The simple truth is that publicly posted content is anyone's for the taking. "Once public engagement happens, it is very hard, if not impossible, to really put meaningful boundaries around it," said Leah Plunkett, author of the book Sharenthood and a member of the faculty at Harvard Law School.
This concern is at the heart of the current drama concerning the TikTok account @wren.eleanor. Wren is an adorable blonde 3-year-old girl, and the account, which has 17.3 million followers, is managed by her mother, Jacquelyn, who posts videos almost exclusively of her child.
Concerned onlookers have pointed Jacquelyn toward comments that appear to be predatory, and have warned her that videos in which Wren is in a bathing suit, pretending to insert a tampon, or eating various foodstuffs have more watches, likes and saves than other content. They claim her reluctance to stop posting in spite of their warnings demonstrates she's prioritizing the income from her account over Wren's safety. Jacquelyn didn't respond to several requests for comment.
Last year, the FBI ran a campaign in which it estimated that there were 500,000 predators online every day -- and that's just in the US. Right now, across social platforms, we're seeing the growth of digital marketplaces that hinge on child exploitation, said Plunkett. She doesn't want to tell other parents what to do, she added, but she wants them to be aware that there's "a very real, very pressing threat that even innocent content that they put up about their children is very likely to be repurposed and find its way into those marketplaces."
Naivete vs. exploitation
When parent influencers started out in the world of blogging over a decade ago, the industry wasn't exploitative in the same way it is today, said Crystal Abidin, an academic from Curtin University who specializes in internet cultures. When you trace the child influencer industry back to its roots, what you find is parents, usually mothers, reaching out to one another to connect. "It first came from a place of care among these parent influencers," she said.
Over time, the industry shifted, centering on children more and more as advertising dollars flowed in and new marketplaces formed.
Education about the risks hasn't caught up, which is why people like Sarah Adams, a Vancouver mom who runs the TikTok account @mom.uncharted, have taken it upon themselves to raise the flag on those risks. "My ultimate goal is just have parents pause and reflect on the state of sharenting right now," she said.
But as Mom Uncharted, Adams is also part of a wider unofficial and informal watchdog group of internet moms and child safety experts shedding light on the often disturbing way in which some parents are, sometimes knowingly, exploiting their children online.
The troubling behavior uncovered by Adams and others suggests there's more than naivete at play -- specifically when parents sign up for and advertise services that let people buy "exclusive" or "VIP" access to content featuring their children.
Some parent-run social media accounts that Adams has found linked out to a site called SelectSets, which lets the parents sell photo sets of their children. One account offered sets with titles such as "2 little princesses." SelectSets has described the service as "a classy and professional" option for influencers to monetize content, allowing them to "avoid the stigma often associated with other platforms."
Over the last few weeks, SelectSets has gone offline and no owner could be traced for comment.
In addition to selling photos, many parent-run dancer accounts, Mollie's included, allow strangers to send the dancers swimwear and underwear from the dancers' Amazon wish lists, or money to "sponsor" them to "realize their dream" or support them on their "journeys."
While there's nothing technically illegal about anything these parents are doing, they're placing their children in a gray area that's not explicitly sexual but that many people would consider to be sexualized. The business model of using an Amazon wish list is one commonly embraced by online sugar babies who accept money and gifts from older men.
"Our Conditions of Use and Sale make clear that users of Amazon Services must be 18 or older or accompanied by a parent or guardian," said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement. "In rare cases where we are made aware that an account has been opened by a minor without permission, we close the account."
Adams says it's unlikely to be other 11-year-olds sending their pocket money to these girls so they attend their next bikini modeling shoot. "Who the fuck do you think is tipping these kids?" she said. "It's predators who are liking the way you exploit your child and giving them all the content they need."
Turning points
Plunkett distinguishes between parents who are casually sharing content that features their kids and parents who are sharing for profit, an activity she describes as "commercial sharenting."
"You are taking your child, or in some cases, your broader family's private or intimate moments, and sharing them digitally, in the hope of having some kind of current or future financial benefit," she said.
No matter the parent's hopes or intentions, any time children appear in public-facing social media content, that content has the potential to go viral, and when it does, parents have a choice to either lean in and monetize it or try to rein it in.
During Abidin's research -- in which she follows the changing activities of the same influencers over time -- she's found that many influencer parents reach a turning point. It can be triggered by something as simple as other children at school being aware of their child's celebrity or their child not enjoying it anymore, or as serious as being involved in a car chase while trying to escape fans (an occurrence recounted to Abidin by one of her research subjects).
One influencer, Katy Rose Pritchard, who has almost 92,000 Instagram followers, decided to stop showing her children's faces on social media this year after she discovered they were being used to create role-playing accounts. People had taken photos of her children that she'd posted and used them to create fictional profiles of children for personal gratification, which she said in a post made her feel "violated."
All these examples highlight the different kinds of threats sharents are exposing their children to. Plunkett describes three "buckets" of risk tied to publicly sharing content online. The first and perhaps most obvious are risks involving criminal and/or dangerous behavior, posing a direct threat to the child.
The second are indirect risks, where content posted featuring children can be taken, reused, analyzed or repurposed by people with nefarious motives. Consequences include anything from bullying to harming future job prospects to millions of people having access to children's medical information -- a common trope on YouTube is a video with a melodramatic title and thumbnail involving a child's trip to the hospital, in which influencer parents with sick kids will document their health journeys in blow-by-blow detail.
The third set of risks are probably the least talked about, but they involve potential harm to a child's sense of self. If you're a child influencer, how you see yourself as a person and your ability to develop into an adult is "going to be shaped and in some instances impeded by the fact that your parents are creating this public performance persona for you," said Plunkett.
Often children won't be aware of what this public persona looks like to the audience and how it's being interpreted. They may not even be aware it exists. But at some point, as happened with Barkman, the private world in which content is created and the public world in which it's consumed will inevitably collide. At that point, the child will be thrust into the position of confronting the persona that's been created for them.
"As kids get older, they naturally want to define themselves on their own terms, and if parents have overshared about them in public spaces, that can be difficult, as many will already have notions about who that child is or what that child may like," said Steinberg. "These notions, of course, may be incorrect. And some children may value privacy and wish their life stories were theirs -- not their parents -- to tell."
Savannah and Cole LaBrant have documented nearly everything about their children's lives.
Jim Spellman/WireImage
This aspect of having their real-life stories made public is a key factor distinguishing children working in social media from children working in the professional entertainment industry, who usually play fictional roles. Many children who will become teens and adults in the next couple of decades will have to reckon with the fact that their parents put their most vulnerable moments on the internet for the world to see -- their meltdowns, their humiliation, their most personal moments.
One influencer family, the LaBrants, were forced to issue a public apology in 2019 after they played an April Fools' Day Joke on their 6-year-old daughter Everleigh. The family pretended they were giving her dog away, eliciting tears throughout the video. As a result, many viewers felt that her parents, Sav and Cole, had inflicted unnecessary distress on her.
In the past few months, parents who film their children during meltdowns to demonstrate how to calm them down have found themselves the subject of ire on parenting Subreddits. Their critics argue that it's unfair to post content of children when they're at their most vulnerable, as it shows a lack of respect for a child's right to privacy.
Privacy-centric parenting
Even the staunchest advocates of child privacy know and understand the parental instinct of wanting to share their children's cuteness and talent with the world. "Our kids are the things usually we're the most proud of, the most excited about," said Adams. "It is normal to want to show them off and be proud of them."
When Adams started her account two years ago, she said her views were seen as more polarizing. But increasingly people seem to relate and share her concerns. Most of these are "average parents," naive to the risks they're exposing their kids to, but some are "commercial sharents" too.
Even though they don't always see eye to eye, the private conversations she's had with parents of children (she doesn't publicly call out anyone) with massive social media presences have been civil and productive. "I hope it opens more parents' eyes to the reality of the situation, because frankly this is all just a large social experiment," she said. "And it's being done on our kids. And that just doesn't seem like a good idea."
For Barkman, it's been "surprisingly easy, and hugely beneficial" to stop sharing content about her son. She's more present, and focuses only on capturing memories she wants to keep for herself.
"When motherhood is all consuming, it sometimes feels like that's all you have to offer, so I completely understand how we have slid into oversharing our children," she said. "It's a huge chunk of our identity and our hearts."
But Barkman recognizes the reality of the situation, which is that she doesn't know who's viewing her content and that she can't rely on tech platforms to protect her son. "We are raising a generation of children who have their entire lives broadcast online, and the newness of social media means we don't have much data on the impacts of that reality on children," she said. "I feel better acting with caution and letting my son have his privacy so that he can decide how he wants to be perceived by the world when he's ready and able."
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Barry Watson Helps Reboot the Superhero Genre in The CW's Naomi
Barry Watson Helps Reboot the Superhero Genre in The CW's Naomi
This story is part of I'm So Obsessed (subscribe here), our podcast featuring interviews with actors, artists, celebrities and creative types about their work, career and current obsessions.
Barry Watson has starred in a lot of popular TV shows, playing oldest son Matt Camden in the family drama 7th Heaven back in the mid-1990s, as well as notable characters in ABC sitcoms What About Brian and Samantha Who?
But in The CW's action adventure series Naomi, created by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship and based on the comic books of the same name, he's helping reshape what superhero shows are all about. Watson is an adoptive dad to Naomi McDuffie, a 17-year-old Black teen who loves comic books and SuperMan. We find out right away she isn't from our planet -- about the same time she finds out. If that's not an unusual enough coming-of-age story for you, consider the added twist: Watson is also a military man who's been assigned by his bosses to help the US track down aliens from outer space.
"If you still believe that only chisel-chinned men can save the day, she's about to open your eyes to other possibilities," The New York Times writes in its review of the series, which premiered in January. "With a Black teen lead, played by the actress Kaci Walfall, and two female creators, Ava DuVernay and the writer and producer Jill Blankenship, the show stands out as a departure from the comic book world's predominately white and male-centered standard."
Watson sees Naomi as a role model for young girls, including his own 9-year-old daughter. "Naomi is not somebody who's afraid to try things or take risks," Watson said in an interview for CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast series.
"When I first read the pilot, I was like, 'Oh, she's like Ferris Bueller. Everybody loves Naomi," he adds. "And she's good at everything. But she's good at everything because she's willing to try."
I spoke with Watson about the series' twists and turns (spoiler free!) and how the entertainment industry has changed since he started working as a 16-year-old actor in 1990. For someone who's spent a lot of time working in TV series, Watson also admitted he's not into binge-watching them. Instead, he sets out with his iPhone and built-in GPS on long walks, including around Atlanta, where Naomi is filmed.
"Whenever I have time off I walk, and I don't walk to any particular place, I just walk to try to discover something new. I realized I know more about Atlanta than most people that are from Atlanta, just by walking from point A to point Z and seeing all the letters in between," he says. "Instead of binge-watching, I've just been trying to just discover more things and just kind of fuel myself that way."
When I ask him to fact-check some of the things I've found out about him on the internet, including that he has a secret formula for loading the dishwasher, he laughs.
"It's just the way my mind works. I'm like, 'Well, this part of the dishwasher is meant for this, this and this. And this part of the dishwasher is meant for this, this and this. So instead of just throwing the things in there, I kind of have them in order where I feel like they're spatially more efficient, where you can load more in there."
He tells me that living at home through the pandemic with his wife and kids has convinced him to let go of his dishwasher-loading obsession. But when I ask him what piece of tech he'd like invented just for him, he serves up another laugh.
"I would probably have a robot that would probably help me load the dishwasher the way I liked it to be loaded." That robot would probably leave him more time to spend on his current obsession: playing board games with his kids, notably Jeopardy.
Listen in to my interview with Watson in the podcast player at the top of this article. Or you can subscribe to I'm So Obsessed and catch up with us on your favorite podcast app. In each episode, Patrick Holland or I catch up with an artist, actor or creator to learn about work, career and current obsessions.
I'm So Obsessed was created by our executive producer, Danielle Ramirez. Our editor and lead producer is Sophia Fox-Sowell, and this episode was produced by Rebecca Fleenor.
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Best Ceramic Coating for 2022
Best Ceramic Coating for 2022
Listen to the hype about ceramic auto paint coatings and you might get the idea that a ceramic top coat will protect your vehicle from falling tree limbs. It won't. The best ceramic coatings will give your car or truck its best defense against settling airborne chemicals and pollutants, tree sap, road and sea salt, bird poop and the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. They'll also deliver a gorgeous sheen that's hard to beat.
Think of ceramic coating as a harder, more protective clear coat for your paint's clear coat. It's the best, most durable way to protect your vehicle's finish, short of a full transparent film wrap, and its hydrophobic (water sheeting) properties make cleaning much, much easier. A properly applied ceramic coating can last for years.
The best ceramic coatings require differing amounts of time and energy to apply, but all require some level of sweat equity and commitment (there's a reason automotive detailing shops get big bucks to professionally apply ceramic). There's a lot of white noise about ceramic coatings and literally hundreds of products to choose from. We've waded through the hype and chosen the best OTC ceramic coatings for a variety of circumstances, purposes and commitment levels based on expert knowledge and opinion, user ratings and personal experience. Click through our best ceramic coatings to understand your options, then read on for a primer on what this amazing technology will and won't do for your vehicle and how best to use it.
CarPro
CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0 is the top over-the-counter product from a Malta-based company that pioneered automotive ceramic coatings in the early 21st century. It contains 70% silicon dioxide that's 99% pure and it leaves what might be the deepest wet-look gloss we've seen. It delivers all the durably protective properties only true ceramic coatings can.
Better still, CQuartz UK 3.0 is not terribly difficult to apply, as pro-grade ceramic coatings go. It's much less finicky about air temperature during application than other serum-type ceramic liquids (anything between 40 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit will work). Its initial hardening time is longer than most, so there's more time to spread and work. Yet it fully cures in only 60 minutes, so you can take a blast by the time you clean up. Or you can build layers during a single-day session, if you want even longer protection. CarPro projects 18 to 24 months of full hydrophobic performance for each layer applied. Every bottle is labeled with its production date and it's guaranteed to remain fully pliant for one year
In short, CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0 is the best combination of quality and ease of application we've encountered and the kit includes almost everything you need. According to users (and CarPro's own math), the included suede applicator wraps will be used up before a medium to large size vehicle is coated, so you might want to order some extras.
Nasiol
Like our best overall ceramic coating product, this kit comes from a company that has been in the ceramic coating business since the beginning. Indeed, Turkey-based Nasiol manufacturers a range of nano-ceramic protectants, including coatings for countertops, marine products, wood and clothing. The chemistry in ZR53 Nano Ceramic coating is impeccable. It goes on in one coat, delivers a rich shine and 9H hardness and should last at least three years in all conditions. The kit includes ZR53 ceramic coating, application pads, gloves, two microfiber cloths and other accessories.
So what's not to like? You'd better know what you're doing when you lay this ceramic down. It needs to go on thin and even and that's easier said than done. Trickier still, it starts to harden in as little as 20 seconds. It's imperative to work small, and quickly, because if it's not buffed before it dries, it can leave streaks or uneven clouds. And the only way this stuff is coming off is with ultra-high PH detergent you won't find at your local hardware store, or with pro-skill power wheeling and enough experience to get it without going into the paint underneath.
Mothers
How difficult is applying Mothers CMX Ceramic Spray Coating? You spray it on an applicator pad, spread it evenly, let it set about five minutes and buff it lightly with a microfiber towel. Then you let it cure for 24 hours. In other words, it goes on easier than conventional "wax on, wax off" carnauba or polymer auto coatings. While it won't last as long as more expensive (and more challenging) ceramic coatings, it will last multiples longer than most of those conventional carnaubas and polys. Or a year or so, depending on how much your car sits out in the sunlight and smog.
You can also layer CMX Ceramic Spray with two or three consecutive coats, leaving those 24 hours in between, before you ever pull the car from the garage. That will extend its durability. Either way, it will provide better hydrophobic protection than most carnaubas and poly waxes, keeping your paint safer and your car cleaner and making your car easier to wash. With application this easy there shouldn't be too much trouble finding time to shine your car once a year.
Nexgen
Nexgen Ceramic Spray can leave flecks and streaks that take some serious elbow grease to buff out. That's almost certainly because you sprayed too much on the paint to begin with. Use less, work less. The eight-ounce bottle is enough for four or five mid-size cars. Once it's on, Nexgen leaves a slick shine and something you don't get in many easy-app ceramic sprays.
That would be a whole lot more silicon dioxide in the formula and silicon dioxides are what thatch the coating molecules together and bond the ceramic to your paint. Nexgen claims it has the highest concentration of SiO2 in any over-the-counter spray; at 13%, double what many have. That should mean that its liquid-shedding, chemical protecting gloss will last longer than the typical easy-app ceramic spray.
Meguiar's
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax is more like a conventional wax formula infused with silicon dioxides to bond the molecules and build that ceramic barrier and there's something to be said for familiarity. It goes on like conventional liquid in a circular motion and dries to a haze that you buff off. To be sure, the haze is lighter than old-school wax residue and less work to remove. It's really hard to mess this stuff up.
What's left when you're finished is a deep, mellow shine and extreme water-beading action. Moreover, the haze makes it harder to miss spots and easier to gauge even coverage and Meguiar's Hybrid will not whiten non-painted trim or rubber gaskets.
Drexler
Drexler is a relatively new, small-volume company in France that warrants some of its ceramic coatings up to 10 years. Its over-the-counter ceramic for vehicles is applied in two stages: one liquid, one spray. It's time consuming (at best) to apply, but not terribly tricky and the manufacturer offers an on-line tutorial.
What you get for the trouble is a hard 9H finish that should minimize light scratching as effectively as any ceramic coating can. It's intended to last five years or more, like many of the professionally applied, detail-shop ceramics. Drexler claims that with moderate hose pressure (say, from a low-grade pressure washer), virtually anything stuck to a Drexler-coated vehicle will rinse off without rubbing.
Weiruixin
This product originates in China and delivers pro-grade chemistry for the price of good, easy-application, consumer-grade detailing products, with applicator, towels, etc. in the package. Weiruixin claims 10H Ceramic Coating 3.0 has an industry best 10H hardness rating and remains bonded at temperatures up to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. It guarantees its hydrophobic properties for at least two years... or your money back.
We wouldn't want to have to chase that $25, but the indicators suggest this could be a good product for not much money, if you're willing to make it work. Experience tells us that it won't be easy to use. The thick fluid will be temperature sensitive, demanding room-temperature, no-dust application conditions and you'll have to keep your car dry and shaded for seven days for it to fully cure. If you lack pro-grade skills, better to choose something like our best cheap and easy ceramic coating. You'll be much happier with the process and maybe even with the results.
Mothers
Remember the first fundamental rule of all ceramic coatings: Surface or paint preparation matters at least as much as the coating itself. The coating simply protects and shines whatever is underneath and it will last longest when its bond with the paint is strongest.
Now, you could spend thousands of dollars or a week's worth of hard work on a full paint correction for your daily-driving 2008 Subaru Impreza. Or you could get Mothers' relatively inexpensive CMX Surface Prep. CMX Surface Prep is pH neutral and biodegradable, and it strips oil, grease, wax and other chemical residue without harming the paint-as easily as cleaning the windows. Just spray CMX Surface Prep on the paint and wipe it off. It won't do much about existing swirl marks or scratches, but it will leave a chemically spotless foundation that helps ensure maximum bonding for the ceramic coating that follows.
Mothers
Like our best minimalist ceramic coating prep (Mothers CMX Surface Prep), CMX Ceramic 3-in-1 Polish & Coat removes grease, old wax and other chemical residue in advance of your ceramic coating application. Yet 3-in-1 adds a light polishing compound, so with a dose more elbow grease or a polishing wheel, it can also remove swirl marks, light scratches, oxidation and other imperfections in the paint.
Better still, Mothers CMX Ceramic 3-in-1 Polish & Coat includes mineral oxides like those in the ceramic coating itself, so it leaves a nice, hard gloss when you're finished. It's hardy enough to leave as it is, but it also provides a fantastic primer coat for a full ceramic coating on top. It won't deteriorate an existing ceramic coating, either, and that makes it a great refresher to invigorate and deepen a good coating that's a couple years old with less work (and cost) than starting from scratch.
Comparison of the best ceramic coatings for 2022
Product
Price
Best ceramic coating overall
CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0 Kit
$83
Best ceramic coating for pro-skill home detailers
Nasiol ZR53 Nano Ceramic Coating Kit
$118
Best cheap and easy ceramic coating
Mothers CMX Ceramic Spray Coating
$18
Best ceramic coating for home detailing newbies
Nexgen Ceramic Spray
$35
Best old school/new school ceramic wax
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax
$25
Best ceramic coating for off-roaders
Drexler Ceramic Car Coating Kit
$74
Best cheap ceramic coating for pro-skill home detailers
Weiruixin 10H Ceramic Coating 3.0 Kit
$25
Best minimalist prep for any ceramic coating
Mothers CMX Surface Prep
$13
Best stage 1 upgrade prep for any ceramic coating
Mothers CMX Ceramic 3-in-1 Polish & Coat
$13
Mothers
Ceramic coatings 101
Somewhere in or under your automobile, there's almost certainly some ceramic coating. Automakers have been using it for years because it's the best protective finish for a variety of parts, including wheel hubs, interior trim bits and things you'll see if you lift the hood. You just won't have ceramic coating on your vehicle's finish paint unless you put it there yourself.
Ceramic coatings can have different names -- nano ceramic, quartz or silica coatings -- and come in various forms. There are thermal sprays, dry powder coatings and wet chemical sprays or liquids. There are different auto-detailing ceramics for different surfaces like wheels, paint, windows or trim. In this report we'll focus on the paint, though some products will work on all of the above. Some of them aren't ceramic coatings in the original form. They're hybrids manufactured like more conventional auto waxes and infused with the key ingredient that makes ceramic coatings "ceramic."
That ingredient is silicon dioxide (SiO2), which bonds the coating at a molecular level to itself and the paint underneath, then cures to form a hard, hydrophobic (impenetrable to water) layer on top of the paint. The silicon dioxide is extracted from natural materials like quartz or sand. Over the years, some ceramic coating manufacturers have added titanium dioxide (Ti02) or more complex silicon compounds such as silicon nitride (Si3N4 9) and silicon carbide (SiC) to their formulae. These can increase the performance of the coating.
Any ceramic coating worth the name will have at least 5% silicon dioxide. The best consumer-grade ceramics have SiO2 concentrates in the 70-80%range, though these can also be the most difficult to apply. Professional detailers and installers typically use ceramic coatings with SiO2 concentrations between 93 and 97%. Other things equal, the higher the SiO2 percentage, the stronger and more durable the coating becomes, and the more money it costs.
In ceramic coatings, other things are rarely equal. The overall performance and price of the product is at least as important as the amount of silicon dioxide. Every ceramic coating also has polymers (more conventional bonding chemicals), glossing agents, curing compounds and or other ingredients. While most manufacturers keep their exact formula proprietary, their products must do more than protect. They must also maximize shine and make application consistent, if not necessarily easy. While the level of silicon dioxide is important to a ceramic coating's overall durability, it's not the only thing that determines a coating's overall performance, in terms of how it looks on your car and how easy or difficult it is to put there.
Meguiar's
Ceramic coatings are sometimes rated with a number before the letter H like 8H or 9H. Contrary to published claims and popular belief, this is not a rating on the Moh scale, which is used by geologists to rank mineral hardness from 1 to 10 (the surface of a copper penny is about 3.5H on the Moh scale, while a diamond is 10H). Rather, the ratings for ceramic coatings will be based on the Wolff-Wilborn Pencil Hardness Test. A pencil hardness test drags increasingly hard graphite pencils across the surface of a coating. The resultant number identifies the softest pencil that will leave a scratch on the coating. A 9H in a pencil hardness test demonstrates about the same surface hardness as the copper penny on the Moh scale, and while that's not diamond grade, it's still pretty darn hard. By pencil hardness, the standard clear coat paint on your car or truck is somewhere between 2H and 4H. That means a 9H ceramic coating is 2.25 to 4.5 times harder to scra tch.
Over-the-counter ceramic coatings are, obviously, intended for use by DIY auto detailers. In the simplest terms, application is similar to traditional automotive wax: You spread the ceramic on in some fashion and then buff it (though not necessarily off). Yet anyone who's done much automobile waxing knows the simplest terms don't fully explain the level of energy required. The best do-it-yourself ceramic coatings and the best results demand some level of sweat equity, in both surface preparation and application. The best in terms of durability or long-term protection are usually the most demanding. If you mess a high-grade ceramic coating up, it will be really, really hard to get off.
It's no coincidence that high-end detailing shops (sometimes called auto spas) have boomed in the era of ceramic coatings. The good shops know what they're doing and they can almost certainly do it better than you can. There are nonetheless a range of great consumer-grade ceramic coatings out there, suitable for everyone from raw DIY detailers to those with pro-grade skills. Those products can leave the paint on your car or truck looking gorgeous... and a you that's proud of what you accomplished, wherever you rank in the detailing-skills pecking order.
We'll get to the details of ceramic coating preparation and application shortly, but if you plan to do it yourself you need to start by gauging how much time and energy you're willing to commit. And by not overestimating your skills. And by considering what you're willing to do if it goes wrong.
First, let's get specific about the real benefits of ceramic coatings and the myths.
Nasiol
What ceramic coatings will (and won't) do
The best ceramic coatings will give your car or truck an incredible shine and probably a better shine than it's ever had before. Professional detailers and some car geeks know that shines can be different like the deep, mellow, lusty shine of perfectly applied, old-school carnauba wax or the more aggressive, wet-look shine of subsequent polymer sealants. The best ceramic coatings span a similar spectrum, but all of them will leave you looking over your shoulder and admiring as you walk away from your vehicle in a parking lot. They'll keep your car cleaner, longer and they'll make it look like you just re-waxed it every time you wash it.
At least as importantly, the best ceramic coatings will protect your car's paint better than any conventional carnauba or poly wax can. Think of any wax or sealant as a transparent sacrificial layer that can be removed or reapplied as necessary to protect the paint underneath it. Ceramic coating is just harder and less porous than more conventional waxes, so it makes it more difficult for anything that settles on the paint to penetrate or even stick. We're talking things like airborne chemicals and pollutants, overspray of any type, tree sap, bird droppings, road or sea salt or the sun's relentless UV rays. Ceramic coating is the best chemical barrier against the harmful effects of multiple substances that can damage paint and diminish its appearance over the years, even moreso if your car lives outside. It will fill the role of sacrificial layer better than any carnauba or poly was and it can do so more economically.
That's because, thanks to silicon dioxide and all that molecular bonding, ceramics stay put a lot longer. A relatively inexpensive, easy application, ceramic spray can protect for a year or so. To maintain peak performance with a traditional wax-on, wax-off carnauba or poly coat, you'll need to lay down a new layer every three or four months. The manufacturers of some more expensive ceramic liquids warranty their product for two years. (We are not weighing in on how difficult or fruitful it might be to make a claim on those warranties.) We've known consumer-grade ceramic liquids that have lasted close to five years before their hydrophobic properties start to diminish. Detailing shops in urban areas around the country, including Motor City Auto Spas in greater Detroit, will guarantee their ceramic applications five, seven or 10 years, depending on the product used.
"We'll guarantee our top product for life, if the car is relatively new, with an annual inspection and detail," says Motor City founder and CEO Matt Lifter. "Short of the annual visits we'll guarantee seven years. Not even acidic solvents like wheel or brake-dust cleaners will take it off. It's really amazing stuff."
Mothers
Ceramic coating is more durable than wax or poly in another sense because it's much harder. That means it's more resistant to light scratches or paint swirls (those spiraling curves that can develop in clear coat after years of washing). Indeed, a ceramic-coated vehicle that's washed properly (no drive-thrus) is nearly immune to paint swirls.
We emphasize "resistant" above because no ceramic coating is scratch proof, even if some to the wildest marketing hype suggests that it might be. Drag a key along a door panel on a ceramic-coated car and the panel will definitely scratch. Throw pebbles at it hard and it will nick. Bottom line: Ceramic-coated cars are still susceptible to rock chips. Some road rash is still likely to build up over the miles and years.
If your overriding goal is preventing rock chips or road rash, better look past ceramic coating. In the current state of auto protection, that would mean looking toward transparent film or "wraps."
Not up to speed on wraps? Vinyl auto wrap is a blend of polyvinylchloride and additives that make it flexible and resistant to UV light and sometimes add color. The additives are blended, dropped onto moving sheets of PVC, then baked and cured. Transparent wrap is virtually invisible on your car's paint, except for barely perceptible edges where the wrap might end and give way to unprotected paint, and it provides an actual, physical cushioning barrier between the paint and whatever the road throws at it. Good wrap will self-heal, so if a high-velocity pebble takes a divot out of the protective barrier, light and heat will actually close and smooth it again.
Drexler
Wrap will get you closer to proofing your car from scratches, rock chips or road rash than any ceramic coating can. It is also considerably more expensive than ceramic (the product) and significantly more difficult to apply. While some brave amateurs have tried, we wouldn't think about doing this ourselves.
Before we get to the process of applying ceramic, there's one more myth to address: Yes, even with the best ceramic coating, you will still have to wash your car.
We're compelled to make this point because a lot of the hype out there seems to suggest you'll never have to wash your car again. We assure you you'll have to do it less often, but dirt, road salt and other appearance-marring substances will eventually build up on the ceramic. The good news, beyond the fact that you'll wash it less, is that your ceramic coated vehicle should be much easier to wash than it was before the ceramic coating: generally no repeated rubbing back and forth over sticky, embedded stuff (which is another reason ceramic can keep swirl marks to a minimum) and usually more like a wipe and rinse. Indeed, some ceramic manufactures promise that, with proper application and sufficient water pressure, anything on your paint will rinse off without rubbing. Finally, know that washing can still leave water spots on ceramic coated cars, depending on the mineral content in your water source. Always towel dry.
On to the work at hand.
Mothers
Layin' it down
Professional-grade ceramic coatings are usually thick, almost glue-like and often require more than one step in the curing process. Consumer-grade ceramics are generally more forgiving to apply, though the most durable can be tricky. If you've browsed our best list, you've seen that there are several types of over-the-counter ceramic coatings. Even the most modestly priced, easiest-to-apply ceramics should outperform comparably priced conventional waxes when it comes to protection and longevity.
Whichever you choose, you must understand the first rule of ceramic coatings (or conventional carnauba and poly waxes, for that matter): surface or paint preparation matters at least as much as the coating itself, and more so if the paint is in poor shape to begin with. The coating simply protects and shines whatever is underneath and it will last longest when its bond with the paint is strongest. Without any prep, you're going to make those scratches or tar flecks or bits of oxidation shine for a long time.
"I'd say on average, our prep is four to five hours," says Lifter, whose Motor City Auto Spa has been doing ceramic since the early days (ed. note: that's four or five hours from efficient, well-trained techs). "It's at least two or three times more time than the actual application. Sometimes the prep can take two full days, but we can't guarantee our product without it."
You can expect a detailing shop to undertake most or all of these steps in advance of applying ceramic coating: Washing the vehicle with an appropriate detergent and sometimes a power washer; "Claying" the paint from stem to stern, or rubbing it with soft clay slabs and a lubricating fluid to remove sap, tar and other substances from the clear coat's pores; Polishing with a compound and a power pad, which can be the trickiest part depending on the age and depth of the paint, to remove swirls, scratches and oxidation; Wiping with a chemical cleaner to remove the final vestiges of dust, grit, waxes or grease.
Mothers
Now, you can do all those things yourself, if you have the inclination and fortitude and the time. It's always worth it, even on a beater with decent paint. You have to decide what you're willing to try. If it's your baby, which only leaves the garage on nice days for car meets or weekend blasts, you probably need to suck it up and try the full Cleveland. It will pay big in the final results. If it's a car you use for track days or the 10-year-old Civic that gets you reliably and satisfyingly to work and the paint still looks good, you can get away with a clay and chemical wash.
If you lean toward the less-work end of the prep spectrum, we urge you to at least undertake the chemical wash (after a good water wash). Using a product like Mothers CMX Surface Prep is essentially like washing windows. You spray it on and wipe it off, and it leaves a squeaky, chemical-free foundation that will ensure a solid bond between the ceramic and the paint. If you're up to a little more elbow grease or have an easy oscillating buffer, try something like Mothers 3-in-1 Prep & Coat. It adds a light polishing compound, so the extra rubbing will take care of a lot of the swirls and light scratches and leave a nice, polished finish.
Given the steps in proper preparation, you might surmise that the best time to apply ceramic coating is when a car is brand new or nearly so. You'd be correct. New cars (for lack of wear) require the least amount of paint correction. Detail shops will often guarantee their ceramic coatings longest when they're applied to new vehicles. If your car is already a few years old, you've got what you got. Just remember that your final ceramic-coating results will be directly related to how well the paint is prepped.
When it's time to actually apply the coating, follow these general rules. Do not apply in direct sunlight, or to paint that's hot to the touch. Do it in a garage, if there is enough light, or borrow one of those cheap outdoor canopies, if that's the next best option. Zero dust is best, and nearly impossible to achieve short of full climate-control conditions, but keep that objective in mind as you set up to start coating. An ambient temperature of about 70 F is ideal; your specific product's instructions will give you a range of acceptable application temps.
Definitely read those instructions and watch the videos on your product manufacturer's website (if available). Time spent now will be time saved during the application, and it will likely improve the end results.
Mothers
Ceramic liquids are invariably what the pros use and typically have the highest silicon-dioxide concentration in consumer-grade coatings. Most come in kits with an applicator sponge and soft cloths to wrap it. Some come with microfiber towels for buffing. It never hurts to have extra application clothes.
To start, you'll wrap the applicator with one of the clothes and spot it with the ceramic coating, sometimes as little as several drops. Working in small areas, spread the coating as evenly as possible. Your product will have its own recommendation on "small," but it's not going to be more than two feet square. Over the next few minutes, depending on the product, the moisture in the ceramic will evaporate to a point where the surface gets a gleaming, almost oily look (sometimes called flashing). That's when you buff with a microfiber towel. When you're happy with what you see, start a new section.
Too little product will be better than too much. The typical 50 ml bottle of ceramic liquid can be enough for multiple cars and too much on the surface is a frequent cause of bad results. Change the applicator cloth and the polishing rags frequently, because if the coating hardens on the rags, it can definitely scratch the paint. If you have any hope of reusing the rags or applicators, throw them in a bucket of water to keep the ceramic from setting until you can wash them thoroughly.
Once you've made your way around your vehicle, leave it sitting out of the sun (and the rain) for as long as it takes for the ceramic to cure. Your product instructions will tell you specifically. Touch contact is typically allowed in 60 minutes to six hours. Liquid contact usually requires at least 24 hours, though it can take up to seven days.
Nasiol
"You've got to make sure the prep is good, but we already said that," veteran ceramic pro Lifter reminds home detailers. "Stay small [in the application area] as you progress, and don't think because you've successfully applied a couple small patches you can expand to bigger sections. Staying small is the best way to avoid high spots. We've had a few customers bring us messes because they lost track of that idea."
The worst-case outcome with consumer grade ceramic liquids is relatively rare, but it happens. It's usually the result of too much product applied in too big an area for the workable set time and is an uneven mess of ridges and cloudy high spots on the paint that is really, really hard to get off. Remember that this stuff is designed to last for years. The only options are looking at the mess every time you get in your car for years, or heading to a good detail or body shop, where a pro-skill polisher might get it off without wrecking the paint. That's going to cost you as much or more than what you hoped to save by applying the ceramic coating yourself.
If you're not willing to accept that risk, we suggest at least starting with one of our relatively inexpensive best ceramic sprays. The general rules are the same: Use it in the best conditions you can create, use less than you might think you need and work small. Thanks to the viscosity of the sprays, which sometimes include lubricants, and to the way they set up, they're loads more forgiving than most liquids. And they're easy enough that you can apply two or three layers in short order, as long as you respect the cure time.
Finally, whichever product you use, don't neglect your health and safety. These products are industrial-grade chemicals. You definitely want to avoid sucking the vapors into your lungs and you want to keep the liquid off your skin. Work in a well-ventilated space and wear a ventilator or a chemical mask (we should be used to masks by now). Definitely wear gloves (many kits include them); it's not a bad idea to wear a long-sleeve shirt, too.
Mothers
Are you ready?
There might be a couple big-picture questions to ponder before you tear into this ceramic coating thing. If you own multiple vehicles, which do you most want to protect as best you can? How much money do you have to spend on your cars?
If the answer to that second question is as much as you need to spend, have ceramic coating professionally applied. Or maybe think about a full wrap with transparent film. It will cost more than pro-applied ceramic, but it has advantages, as previously noted.
If you only have as much money to protect your paint as you can get away with, think creatively. Maybe you pay the pros for a limited wrap (say the front fascia, door sills and rear fender bulges) and put ceramic on everything including the wrap yourself. That might be your most efficient use of resources. Or maybe you just take a nice day and apply a relatively inexpensive ceramic spray.
Unless you have the full inventory of tools, climate-controlled car space, the right skills, years of experience and a lot of time, you will not get the same results and durability as a professional establishment applying high-grade ceramic coatings. What you can get is an awesome gloss that protects much better and lasts years longer than conventional carnauba or polymer auto waxes, for up to thousands less than you might pay the pros.
That's not bad at all.
Written by J.P. Vettraino for CNET Cars.
More car cleaning recommendations
Ceramic coating FAQs
What is ceramic coating and is it worth it?
Ceramic coatings, sometimes called nano-ceramic, quartz or silica coatings, were developed in the early part of the 21st century. They're applied to automobiles in very generally the same fashion as old-school liquid or paste waxes: spread on and buff. They universally contain silicon dioxide (SiO2), derived from quartz or sand. Over the years, some manufacturers have added other mineral compounds, including titanium dioxide (Ti02) or more complex silicon compounds such as silicon nitride (Si3N4 9) and silicon carbide (SiC). These compounds bond the coating at a molecular level to itself and the paint underneath, then cure to form a hard, hydrophobic layer on the paint. It's the primary reason ceramic coatings last.
Worth it? Loaded question, but yes, ceramic coatings are worth it. The least expensive consumer-grade ceramics don't cost much more than traditional waxes and don't take any longer to apply. Properly done, they'll work better and last longer.
How much does a ceramic coating cost?
It can be $1,000 or more when it's professionally applied by product-certified auto detailers. Consumer-grade ceramics can cost in excess of $100 for top-grade durability and performance and can be tricky to apply. Ultimate results are directly related to cost or time and energy invested, yet even the least expensive, easiest-to-apply ceramics (about $20) should out-perform conventional wax of a similar price.
Is ceramic coating easy to apply?
Yes, and no. Generally, the most protective and durable ceramic coatings are the most difficult or time consuming to apply and the trickiest. Experienced do-it yourself detailers shouldn't have too much trouble with any of them, but it takes work and occasionally disasters ensue. Easy ceramic sprays or hybrids are easier than traditional wax-on, wax-off sealants to apply. They'll shine at least as well as the conventional waxes, protect better and last longer.
Just remember: the ceramic coating will only shine and protect whatever is underneath it, so you can end up with some really shiny scratches and tar flecks. Final appearance and durability are directly related to the amount of paint prep that precedes the actual coating. If your paint is in reasonably good shape, we at least recommend a spay-and-wipe prep solution, which will remove old wax and chemical residue and ensure a solid foundation that maximizes the bond between the coating and paint.
How do I maintain a ceramic-coated car?
You wash it, until the coating's hydrophobic properties start to wane and that can be years. Washing will be easier than ever: You won't have to wash your vehicle as often as you did before the ceramic coating and you shouldn't need strong detergents. Ceramic coatings work partly because far fewer substances stick to them than to old-school carnauba or polymer waxes, sort of like Teflon on a frying pan. Those substances that do settle are much more easily removed.
You can use a wash detergent that's intended for ceramic coatings, or a spray refresher on the paint as you dry. Both can extend the life of the coating itself. Either way, your vehicle will look like you just polished it when you're done. You definitely don't need to wax it once the ceramic is applied. The ceramic coating replaces wax and provides all the gloss and protection you need.
How long does ceramic coating last?
Longer than conventional wax, in the worst case. Some professional auto detailers will guarantee their ceramic coatings for the life of the car. Pro-style consumer-grade ceramics can last five years or more, properly applied. Some manufacturers guarantee these for two or three years. The easiest spray-on ceramic coatings can last a year or so, depending on whether the vehicle lives outside and they're easily layered for more durability. Conventional carnauba or poly waxes typically need to be applied every three or four months.
NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs
NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs
Take a quick look at the image to the right. What, if anything, could convince you that image is worth $9 million?
Richerd/OpenSea
What you're looking at is an NFT, one of the first ever created. It's part of the CryptoPunks collection, a set of 10,000 NFTs released in 2017, a time when much of the world was still finding out what bitcoin is.
Most likely you've already rolled your eyes, either at the $9 million figure or at the very idea of NFTs themselves. The response to nonfungible tokens hasn't changed much since March when they first started exploding. The public at large has reflexively dismissed them as environmentally harmful scams. The bigger the sale, the more brazen the injustice.
Which brings us back to the above pixelated chap. Its owner is Richerd, an affable Canadian software developer. He started building cryptocurrency software around 2013, but eventually tired of it. After discovering NFTs earlier this year, Richerd bought CryptoPunk #6046 on March 31 for $86,000 in what he said was the biggest purchase he'd ever made in his life.
Richerd, who has over 80,000 followers on Twitter, last month claimed that his CryptoPunk was priceless to him and wasn't for sale no matter the price. The very next day his determination was tested when an offer came through for 2,500 ether, or $9.5 million. It was made not because Richerd's CryptoPunk is worth that amount -- similar NFTs now go for about $400,000 -- but rather because his bluff was very publicly being called. It was a challenge, but it was still a legitimate offer. If Richerd clicked "accept", 2,500 ether would have flowed into his wallet.
Richerd rejected the offer.
"Well, obviously, the day before I said 'I'm not selling it for any price,' so if I sell it for that price, I'd be going against my integrity," Richerd told me over a Zoom call. "On top of that, I've used this CryptoPunk as my profile pic, as my brand. Everyone knows that's me."
Not too long ago, Richerd's explanation would have sounded insane to me. How divorced from reality would someone need to be to offer eight figures on a picture that looks like a Fiverr job? How scandalously misguided would a person need to be to rebuff that offer? After I spent a few months researching and following NFTs, however, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, it makes a whole lot of sense.
There are 10,000 NFTs in the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. Here are three examples. The middle one is owned by Jimmy Fallon.
Yuga Labs
Bitcoin millionaires
Here is one quick fact that explains why NFTs are bought for the equivalent of a CEO's salary: Bitcoin is estimated to have made over 100,000 millionaires. It's no surprise that NFTs became a phenomenon in March. That's when bitcoin hit $60,000, up over 500% from just six months prior.
When you see a headline or a tweet about some preposterous sum being spent on an NFT, it's easy to become bewildered over how absurd that purchase would be for you. What's easy to forget is that very expensive things are almost exclusively bought by very rich people -- and very rich people spend a lot on status symbols.
Take Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example. It's a collection of 10,000 ape NFTs, all with different traits that make some rarer than others. Rare ones have sold over for over a million bucks, but common variants go for around $200,000. (At the time of launch back in April, BAYC developers sold the NFTs for $190 each.) BAYC, owned by the likes of Steph Curry and Jimmy Fallon, is what you'd call a "profile pic collection." The main purpose of the images is to be used as your display photo on Discord, where most NFT business goes down, or on Twitter, Instagram or wherever else.
To recap: $200,000 minimum for a profile picture.
In isolation, that's insane. But place it on a spectrum of how wealthy people spend money, and it becomes less staggering. You can right click and save a JPEG, so why spend money on it? Well, you can buy a nice house in a safe neighborhood almost anywhere in the world for $1 million, yet celebrities regularly snap up $20 million mansions. You can find a fashionable dress for under $500, yet brands like Chanel build their business on selling ones for 20 times that amount.
Up to 100,000 people became millionaires when that green line shot skyward.
coinmarketcap.com
We accept that rich folks buy extravagant items offline. Is it so inconceivable they would buy extravagant things online, too?
"In the real world, how do people flex their wealth?" said Alex Gedevani, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital. "It can be buying cars or watches. How scalable is that versus if I buy a CryptoPunk and use it as my profile picture?"
Obviously, status symbols aren't specific to the rich. All of us indulge in some way or another, be it buying a $20,000 new car when a $7,000 used vehicle will do, or buying a $30 T-shirt when Walmart sells basics for under $5. What most status symbols have in common is that they have a specific audience in mind. The banker sporting his Rolex and the chief executive stepping into her Bentley don't care that I think either of those purchases is excessive. They have a small but powerful group of people they're trying to influence. So, too, with NFTs.
In the case of Richerd, he runs his own business, Manifold, where he helps show digital artists like Beeple how they can use blockchain technology to make art that could only exist as NFTs. Being a part of the most sought-after NFT collection helps in those circles. And when he says his brand is built on his Punk, he's not exaggerating -- a group of investors even named their organization after him.
"Anybody who owns a CryptoPunk believes certain things," Richerd explained. "Either you've been in the community for a long time so you believe in what these are, or you've paid a lot of money to get in, which shows conviction.
"I want to show my conviction. This is one of those projects that makes you put your money where your mouth is."
A bit of trouble
NFTs are polarizing. There's a small group of people who believe in the underlying technology (tokens that prove ownership of a digital good), but there are many more who regard it as a hoax. Just as the second group struggles to see any value in NFTs, the first group can sometimes be defensive about the technology's imperfections.
And make no doubt about it, there are a lot of issues with NFTs.
First is the confounding inaccessibility. There's a reason software developers tend to do well in crypto and NFT trading: Setting up blockchain wallets and other required digital apparatus is difficult. Even just buying and selling can be perilous. Send money to the wrong wallet address by accident, and it's gone forever.
Then there are the fees. Imagine you're interested in dipping your toes into nonfungible waters and you have $1,000 you're willing to lose. If you're minting a new NFT during a public sale you'll usually spend between $120 and $400. Not too bad -- until you factor in the transaction fees. Most NFTs are built on the ethereum blockchain, which is notoriously inefficient. The more people using ethereum, be it through trading altcoins or buying NFTs, the higher the fees. At a good time you'll spend about $100 per transaction, though double or triple that amount is common. Suddenly that $1,000 doesn't go very far.
This is especially troublesome for NFTs, which are infamous for causing "gas wars." It's possible for 100,000 people to buy shiba inu coins at once, since there are a quadrillion in circulation. But when 10,000 people try to buy an NFT, it results in a massive spike in transaction costs as some users outbid each other to speed up their purchase. It may only last a minute or two, but a lot of damage can be done in that time. People spending over $10,000 on a transaction fee isn't rare. People losing $1,000 on a failed transaction isn't, either.
This is what it looks like when someone spends $4,000 on a failed transaction. It's rare, but not rare enough.
Etherscan screenshot by Daniel Van Boom
Ethereum's inefficiency also contributes to the other major criticism of NFTs, the massive amount of energy they consume. Note that this is something of a semantic issue: NFTs aren't bad for the environment as much as ethereum is. Other networks, like Solana, use a fraction of the power. Ethereum developers are expected to implement an upgrade next year that will make mining it consume 1% the energy it currently does. At this moment though, while no one can say precisely how much energy ethereum consumes, we know it's a lot. (Bitcoin, despite getting all the headlines, is even less efficient than ethereum, which is why almost nothing is built on its blockchain.)
And finally, there's the fact that most people trading NFTs are doing so to make a profit. Scams are everywhere, and prices are volatile. Most of the people who create, buy and sell NFTs are ignorant or uninterested in the technology. If there is a technological leap taking place, it's likely to be obscured by the dizzying price movements.
"I'd call it a bubble," Gedvani said, "because the amount of speculators that are entering the market is outpacing genuine creators."
But a bubble can pop and leave something better in its wake. Think of Pets.com. It had a peak valuation of $290 million in February 2000 but by November of that year, as the infamous dot-com bubble began to burst, it had already closed shop. It's used as a cautionary tale for speculative trading in bubbles. But the impulse to invest in Pets.com evidently ended up being justifiable. That particular venture was misguided, but the e-commerce trend it was flicking at was legitimate. Seven-figure pixel art may not be forever, but proof of digital ownership, which is what NFTs are really about, may be.
A big 2022
Where NFTs will end up is anyone's guess -- and anyone who claims to know is probably trying to sell you something. What we do know is that the amount of people buying NFTs is almost definitely about to grow.
It's estimated that around 250,000 people trade NFTs each month on OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace. In the short term, CoinBase will soon open its own NFT marketplace, for which 2 million users are on the waiting list. Robinhood has similar plans.
More importantly, giant companies that already make money outside of the crypto space want in. Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go, has just announced a game in which players can earn bitcoin. Twitter and the company formerly known as Facebook plan to integrate NFTs into their platforms, and Epic Games says it's open to doing so too. Envision a world where instead of buying skins in Fortnite, you buy an NFT for those skins that you own -- meaning you can trade it for outfits and weapons in other games, or sell it once you're done with it. (Epic said it won't integrate such a mechanic into Fortnite, but that may not stop competitors.)
Richerd reckons the flood of people soon to enter the NFT marketplace will create a broader diversity of digital products sold for different audiences. Your neighbor might not want to spend $200 -- much less $200,000 -- on a profile picture, but maybe they'll be willing to spend $10 on a one-of-a-kind skin, or on a product in Facebook's Metaverse. But though the space may change, he remains confident that CryptoPunk #6046 is safe for a while yet.
"Even if every NFT falls," he said, "CryptoPunks will be the last one."
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23 great iPhone games you can download right now
23 great iPhone games you can download right now
PlayStation and Xbox consoles are harder to buy than ever right now, but who needs 'em? After all, you carry a gaming machine in your pocket with you everywhere you go. The iOS ecosystem is home to a dizzying array of fantastic games you can play, many of which are optimized for your iPhone. In fact, there are so many games out there that cutting through them all can be overwhelming. What should you skip and what should you play?
This is a list of 23 titles that are worth your time. There's a hugely diverse range of games to play on your iPhone or iPad (check out a list of games that work particularly well on iPad here), which means there's something for everyone. There are games that give you deep roleplaying experiences and there are games to pick up and play for two minutes at a time -- plus everything in between.
Florence
Price: $3
Annapurna Interactive
Florence is a game so nice that it's been ported to other platforms -- namely Windows, MacOS and the Switch. That's something you can say about few other games that were designed for iOS. It's a game that follows 25-year-old Florence Yeoh as she falls in love with a cellist named Krish. The gameplay takes the form as minigames that progress the story and all up it'll take about 40 minutes to finish. But it's a 40 minutes you won't soon forget.
Call of Duty Mobile
Price: Free
Activision Blizzard
The latest Call of Duty to hit consoles is the World War 2-era Vanguard, but you don't need to shell out $60 to play Call of Duty. The free-to-play mobile title is obviously not as technically breathtaking as its console brethren, but it gets a lot out of your mobile's hardware. More importantly, it plays surprisingly well. It features popular maps from previous Call of Duty games, and has a control scheme that makes playing on your phone much less awkward than you'd expect.
Tetris Beat
Price: Apple Arcade subscription ($5 a month)
Apple
You already know if you'll like Tetris Beat or not because it is, among other things, Tetris. As you can tell by the name, this take on the classic puzzle game integrates music, with three modes all designed around playing Tetris in tune with a beat. Tetris Beat is a fantastic addition to any home screen because it's easy to pick up and play -- and doesn't require you to return each and every day if you don't feel like it.
Slayaway Camp
Price: $3
Blue Wizard Digital LP
In Slayaway Camp, you play the villain in a series of slasher movies and you need to hit all the teen counselors at a summer camp. The graphics are voxel-based, which keeps the gore-fest entertainingly cartoony and every detail has been lovingly thought about -- from the "rewind" option when you fall to the scattered bones you leave in your wake. Some levels have limits or special features (such as fires) to help you dispatch your victims (and provide hazards that you need to avoid yourself) and you can even earn coins to unlock special kills. For such a bloodthirsty premise, it's an utter joy.
PUBG
Price: Free
PUBG Mobile
You can't go very far in gaming without finding a battle royale right now and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, better known as PUBG, was the game that kicked off the trend. It's since been eclipsed in popularity by Fortnite -- which is notoriously unavailable on iOS and Android -- but remains a reliably good time. One hundred people are dropped into an area, the last one standing is the winner. Enjoy your chicken dinner!
Fantasian
Price: Apple Arcade subscription ($5 a month)
After three long years, Fantasian is finally on the way.
Apple
Fantasian hit Apple Arcade with a huge amount of hype, thanks in large part to it being written by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. Released over two parts -- the first in April, the second in August -- this is a fully featured JRPG. It'll take you over 40 hours to finish, during which time you'll slay many a beast and see several beautifully crafted environments. Really, the art style is something special: The team created over 100 dioramas and scanned them to create pre-rendered backgrounds. It's worth downloading just to look at, if nothing else.
Clusterduck
Price: Free
PikPok
Between this, Untitled Goose Game and The Falconeer, our avian friends are really enjoying some time in the sun. Clusterduck is a weird game: It's all about hatching duck eggs. The more eggs are hatched, the more mutations occur, the more chaos ensues. It's quirky, silly fun.
Hyper Light Drifter
Price: $5
Heart Machine
There's one thing you'll ask yourself as you play through Hyper Light Drifter: What the hell is going on? It's a game that seems to take pleasure in giving you almost nothing to work with, in forcing you to figure everything out on your own. That means story and gameplay too. But those who manage to hang in there will be rewarded with a beautifully atmospheric adventure, one animated by pixelated '80s anime art style.
Rolling Sky 2
Price: Free
Cheetah Technology
Published in 2019, Rolling Sky 2 is a throwback to mobile games developed a decade ago. It's a runner game, meaning the character on screen is forever running forward and it's your job to guide them past dangerous obstacles and traps. The mechanics are simply -- simply move your finger from side to side -- but the onscreen flourishes are not. Rolling Sky 2 integrates music and a beautiful art style to make this simple experience a satisfying one too.
Out There
Price: $1
Mi-Cos Studio
Out There is a game about survival and strategy, carefully managing your resources as you travel the stars. It's also a tale of ultimate, lonely isolation. It tells the tale of an astronaut who wakes from cryosleep to find that he's no longer in orbit around Jovian moon Ganymede -- in fact, he's not even in the solar system. He has no idea where he is and has only unreliable alien technology as a guide home. You have to carefully manoeuvre through dangerous situations and manage resources as you navigate the stars -- because when your astronaut dies, it's game over. And all the while, you have no way of knowing if what you seek is truly the way home.
Mini Motorways
Price: Apple Arcade subscription ($5 a month)
Dinosaur Polo Club Twitter
Finally, a game for all the kids who dreamed of growing up to be a traffic engineer. Mini Motorways is a strategy puzzle game that's all about building the best road layout for growing cities. If building houses that connect houses to buildings doesn't sound like your idea of fun, Mini Motorways' charming visuals and score will absolutely win you over.
Her Story
Price: $4
Sam Barlow
Her Story is a game about a video search engine. Well, that and a murder. A woman's husband was killed and she's a suspect. Your job is to sift through video footage of police interviewing said woman. You do this by typing words into a search engine and watching the videos that pop up -- which will give you more clues and in turn lead to more searches. Basic gameplay, but incredibly creative storytelling: Her Story was won many accolades, including being named GameSpot's Game of the Month in June of 2015.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Price: Free
Nintendo
Animal Crossing was always big, but last year's New Horizons boosted the franchise into a new stratosphere of popularity. If you've wanted to play Animal Crossing but don't have a Switch, note that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is still very much viable, despite being released in 2017. It's a smaller scale experience than New Horizons, as you'll be building a campsite rather than an entire island, but it's full of the same charm that's made Animal Crossing a titan.
Alto's Odyssey
Price: $5
Snowman
Alto's Odyssey is a followup game to Alto's Adventure. Both are very similar: They're endless runners, except instead of running it's downhill boarding. Odyssey takes place in the desert, so you're sandboarding, while Adventure has Alto snowboarding. Most importantly, both have a striking, mesmorizing visual style. This is a great game to download for easy pick-up-and-play sessions.
Helix Jump
Price: Free
Voodoo
Helix Jump by Voodoo is a tactile puzzle game that's incredibly deceptive in its simplicity. The goal is to bounce a ball down a labyrinth by falling strategically through the cracks on each level without falling on a red zone. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast. With the fun frustration that came with tap and drag games like Flappy Bird and many others since, Helix Jump will have you screaming at the screen, then coming back for "just one more." The haptic response when the ball bounces is also a nice touch.
Oxenfree
Price: Free
Night School Studio
A group of friends hanging out on a beach take a turn for the worse when the teens accidentally open a ghostly rift. Soon the group is fighting for survival, struggling through time loops and doubting if everyone is truly who they say they are. Oxenfree calls itself a "supernatural teen thriller," but deftly avoids tropes and cliches, providing characters with depth and a fascinating, eerie plot. It's a quick game you could play in one sitting, but there's multiple endings so you can always go back.
A Normally Lost Phone
Plug In Digital
Price: $2
Like many games on this list, A Normally Lost Phone is all about narrative. Moreso than other entries here though, this really is a case of "the less you know the better". There are two things you need to know: first, that it's a game about discovering a phone and piecing together information about its owner. Second, it's absolutely worth a download.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Price: $5
Gamespot
What Remains of Edith Finch rules. Through a series of minigames, it recounts the history of the Finch family and the alleged curse that led to its downfall. It'll take you about two hours to beat What Remains of Edith Finch and the game takes you on a remarkable emotional journey during that time. Sadness, laughter, horror and hope; you'll feel it all.
Framed
Loveshack
Price: $4
Words can't do Framed justice: It really is one of the more unusual concepts we have seen in some time. The entire game takes place without words, as it's laid out as a completely wordless noir comic, with our protagonists avoiding being spotted by law while double-crossing each other. Gameplay is not action-based, but context-based. You have to examine each page, shifting the panels around to make sure that events occur in the order that sees our hero escape clean, getting the jump on police or sneaking past. Although it may sound good, that's nothing compared to how satisfying it is to experience.
And if you dig it, a sequel, Framed 2, was released in 2017.
League of Legends: Wild Rift
Riot Games
Price: Free
There's not much to say about League of Legends: Wild Rift outside of the fact that it's a modified version of the insanely popular League of Legends PC game. Do you like League of Legends? Have you ever wanted to try it? If the answer to either question is a yes, Wild Rift is for you.
Hearthstone
Price: Free
Activision Blizzard
Hearthstone is a spinoff of the Warcraft franchise, a card game building on the lore of Blizzard's wildly popular MMO series. It's unusual for a mobile game in that it's become an esports staple, with the player count reaching 100 million in 2018. Yes, it's a bit overwhelming to start Hearthstone in 2021, but Blizzard has updates planned up through 2023, so it's worth the time investment.
Monument Valley 2
Price: $5
ustwo games
Monument Valley was a smash hit when it came out in 2014, combining clever puzzles with simple-but-striking visuals. Its sequel, 2017's Monument Valley 2, adds to it with even more visual flair and, perhaps more significantly, a more pronounced story. Monument Valley is about solving puzzles and it's also a game about mothers and daughters, and the ties between on generation and the next.
Pokemon Go
Price: Free
Niantic
OK, I know what you're thinking. You already know about Pokemon Go -- like approximately everyone on planet Earth, you probably gave it a go in 2016. But Pokemon Go was far more than a temporary phenom, and in fact had its most profitable year in 2020. Developer Niantic has drastically improved the game over the years, adding new Pokemon, integrated Pokemon battles with human and AI trainers, community events, raids and more. Give Go another chance.
