1/ People seem increasingly concerned about the term "daily active users" (DAU).

It's used by other web2 social networks (in SEC filings!) and now other decentralized social networks; we use Meta's definition (below).

Is there likely a better definition? Yes! 

Have we come up with a better methodology? Not yet.

Idea 👉🏻 Community Engagement Index (CEI) may provide a meaningful gauge of activity and engagement on Farcaster.

We can calculate the individual CEI for each user based on activities and weightage on each component. These scores can be aggregated for platform CEI. Tracked over time, CEI is able to show trends.

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Tracking CEI will show us the trend of activities. Adjusting the weightage will impact the outcome, and the community can decide that. 

Theoretically, a large base of inactive users with a small group of highly users will lower the platform CEI. Therefore,the focus on onboarding of quality and active users over time.

User Daily Sample 👇🏻
- Original Casts: 30
- Replies: 20
- Quote: 15
- Follows and follow back: 8
- DM Sent: 10
- Channel Posts: 12
- Channel Replies: 5
- Channel Quote: 3

CEI = 
(0.2 * 30) + (0.15 * 20) + (0.1 * 15) 
+ (0.25 * 8) 
+ (0.1 * 10) 
+ (0.1 * 12) + (0.05 * 5) + (0.05 * 3)
= 6 + 3 + 1.5 = 15.35

CEI aggregated at platform level can include mean, average vs. number of users onboarded. 

Using CEI allows Farcaster to focus on various aspects. The above is an example, we can add/remove components for example “onchain transactions” “no. casts > 10 words” to adjust CEI measures.

LMK what you think below.

Sample components and their weightage could be 👇🏻

1. Casting Activity (45%): Original casts (20%), Replies (15%), Quote (10%)

2. Connection Growth (25%): Follow and follow back

3. Direct Messaging (10%)

4. Channel Engagement (20%):
- Channel posts (10%), replies (5%), quote (5%)