- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has hailed decentralized social media platform Farcaster
- Buterin noted that Farcaster’s operating model is better than that of similar platform Friend.tech
- Buterin believes that Farcaster’s popularity will live for long unlike that of Friend.tech that was short-lived
The recent rise of blockchain-based social media platform Farcaster has caught the attention of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In an X (formerly Twitter) comment, Buterin hailed the decentralized platform noting that its operating model is different from that of Friend.tech, a similar platform whose popularity was only short-lived. Buterin predicted that, unlike Friend.tech, Farcaster is here to stay, an observation that’s likely to boost the platform’s usage.
Financial Speculation Isn’t a Good Strategy
Responding to a tweet lamenting the collapse of Friend.tech, Buterin said that Friend.tech used “financial speculation” to lure people to the platform, a strategy that turned against it when the incentives were insignificant.
“Bad gamefi is using financial speculation as a substitute for fun. Blockchain games need to be fun as games” – approx quote I’ve said many times
I believe a similar thing for crypto social.
Registering a prediction: farcaster and lens will NOT be deserted in 4 months, or 1 yr.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 5, 2024
According to Buterin, Farcaster and another platform called Lens aren’t incentivizing users with financial promises hence increasing their survival rates among blockchain-powered social media platforms.
Unlike Friend.tech that enabled the trading of social media profiles, Farcaster boasts of multiple social media applications that mimic the operation of conventional apps but with an extra touch of privacy and censorship resistance.
An example of a popular Farcaster app is Frames which allows users to play games and purchase NFTs all within the app. Frames has contributed to Farcaster’s usage rising by over 13 times last week.
Social Media + Financial Speculation Can Work Together
The X post’s creator somewhat differed with Buterin’s view, saying that it’s too early “to write off the concept of a social network deeply tied to money/speculation.” Others noted that Friend.tech “was more fun than Farcaster.”
Agreed WRT Lens and Farcaster, but I think there are broader lessons beyond social + financial speculation = bad.
I suspect it’s too early to write off the concept of a social network deeply tied to money/speculation. Most ideas are tried many times until they work.
— Haseeb ＞|＜ (@hosseeb) February 5, 2024
At one time, Friend.tech developers threatened to withhold benefits for users abandoning the protocol for similar platforms in a bid to breathe new life into the platform.
With Buterin seemingly endorsing Farcaster, it’s to be seen whether his prediction will bring more people to the platform.
