Web3 social front-ends are the future of social media, and Lens Protocol is at the forefront of this revolution. There are already 8 front-end applications built on top of Lens Protocol, all of which are in beta and early stages of development, but are growing quickly thanks to visionary entrepreneurs and developers. Some examples include:
@lenster (https://lenster.xyz/)
@phaverapp (https://phaver.com/)
@orbapp (https://orb.ac/)
@fanstastic (https://fanstastic.app/)
@onboardapp (TestFlight Only 👀)
@lentilapp (TestFlight Only 👀)
@lenstaxyz (Web & TestFlight https://www.lensta.xyz/)
@buttrfly (https://www.buttrfly.app/)
If you’re considering or currently developing a social front-end on top of Lens Protocol, here are a few insights to keep in mind:
Low Switching Costs: In traditional social media, users do not own their identities, content, or social connections, making it difficult to switch or leave platforms. In web3 social, users and creators have ownership and portability, making it easy to onboard new users but also easy to lose them. Retention will be challenging.
Competitive Landscape: Developers can create applications quickly because all backend infrastructure, main logic, and network effects are at a protocol level. This means there will be more than one social media app emerging per month, and this is just the beginning.
Experience is King: To maintain users, front-ends must provide excellent experiences, including fast loading times, smooth navigation, innovative tools, composability, optimistic UX, cultural localization, great design, and curated content & feeds.
Business Models: In web3 social, the model is simple: enable an open economy and charge fees from it. This includes digital real estate tax on premium followers, tipping, NFT minting, premium features, in-app purchases, and possibly advertising revenue sharing.
Creator Onboarding: Providing high-quality, exclusive content will be an engine for growth, in addition to traditional marketing spend. Exclusive deals with creators will be a great competitive advantage, similar to what we’re seeing in trademarked music and video platforms.
Think Mobile: The potential market for social media is in the billions of users. Targeting the masses will require a new approach in building web3 applications. Eventually, no one will be talking about wallets, blockchains, or transactions per second. That’s why we’re pioneering gas-less mobile experiences.
Micro Communities: Web2 social is a winner takes all zero-sum game, while web3 social is a positive sum game. Because of composability, micro-communities or niches can now be served in better ways if their specific needs and wants are met.
Flexibility: The openness of web3 and fast rate of digital adoption will foster innovation at an unprecedented rate, so applications will need to adapt quickly. It will be exciting to see which new primitives emerge from the Lens Protocol ecosystem.
Decentralized Governance: Ce-Social has been responsible for influencing elections and manipulating media. On Lens Protocol, content will be moderated via DAOs like CultivatorDAO. We will have a say in what our society consumes via a democratized system. Front-ends will be able to opt in or out from algorithms middleware and be liable for what they show on their feeds.
To learn more about web3 technology, refer to my other posts. For more information, feel free to reach out on Twitter
