What Is ?️??️? Oh, It Is What It Is.

Overnight, an app/service/thing sporting three emojis for its name (signifying a mix of surprise, shock, anger or disgust) has piqued the interested of many an early-adopter on Twitter. With a mysterious line “It is what it is” and a tweet that promises…something will happen at 7 pm PST, 06/26. The app, since no-one really knows if this is even a real thing yet, is just asking for an email and will send you details when your number in line comes up. Sounds fishy? Read on…

The premise is simple, give them your email on the site (xn—mp8hai . fm) and wait, if you do other things – like donate – you might get early access or someone will give you an invite.

The official account for IIWII (@itiseyemoutheye) is asking for donations to Therapy Fund although “enterprising’ sub accounts have already popped up offering speedier access which the people in charge of the official Twitter account have confirmed is not them nor endorsed by them. The fake account requests money and promises 50% of donations go to Black Lives Matter. The fake account doesn’t give out more details and when asked for the ‘instructions’ the account posts the following message as a DM. Pay and you might get faster access, except per IIWII, you won’t:

“??? ??? ??? here’s the deal: we are wayy beyond capacity with the flood of requests at the moment. by messaging us you have been added to the waitlist; we are accepting donations to fund development (50% will go to Black Lives Matter causes) that will move you up on the list. depending on the pace of development and how many other people donate, it may still take a very long time to get through our waitlist. this is a DONATION not a sale – we aren’t making any guarantees or promises, it’s up to you to choose to donate or wait things out. it is what it is!!! BTC: 36LC2QqFEmouYu5q7oEHgiR1FacMg8NHxU ETH: 0x0381032Eb0De————56e105c66884Ff44B24 dm us screenshot proof if you choose to donate other crypto options available upon request ??? ??? ???”

People are donating if the receipts being shared in Twitter comments on both the real and fake accounts are genuine. How much is not disclosed on the Therapy Fund site and your money is in the ether if you choose to donate to the fake Bitcoin request.

The official IIWII Twitter account has retweeted a screengrab from Zhi Pan which could shed a little more light onto what IIWII actually is. Pan, who may or may not be involved with IITII, did not offer anymore details when asked for more information. Pan’s tweet suggests IIWII has something to do with ephemeral accounts but this cannot be verified at this time and no other screenshots appear to exist.

Expect the hype to build and more accounts to be sporting the three emoji configuration until the announcement – or whatever – is coming later on. Time will tell if the hype is warranted but until then sit back and enjoy.

One thing for sure; it is what it is.

UPDATE: Josh Constine from SignalFlare has a nice summation:

This is the latest evolution of the rise of the Stepchickens that I covered on this newsletter, which saw influencers build cults of fans that copied their profile pics to spread their comedic gospel. App Stores are clogged and we’ve grown blind to traditional marketing. But the ??? app has leveraged an army of confidants to turn Twitter names into billboards and bewildering teasers into a hype cycle no tiny startup could afford.

We crave the sense of affiliation stripped from our lives by isolation, and a break from home life’s monotony. In this moment, what could be more tempting than a secret society behind a locked door — a mystery that leaves you ???

If you’re in already and using the app please send screenshots/dm me on Twitter.