1/14 Our new report "Breaking Down Walled Gardens: Farcaster and Decentralised Social Media" delves into the rapidly evolving social media landscape, from the centralised control in Web2 platforms to the concept of decentralisation in social media

1/14 Our new report "Breaking Down Walled Gardens: Farcaster and Decentralised Social Media" delves into the rapidly evolving social media landscape, from the centralised control in Web2 platforms to the concept of decentralisation in social media

https://paragraph.xyz/@lemniscap/breaking-down-walled-gardens-farcaster

3/14 Decentralised social media is built on federated protocols, blockchains, and peer-to-peer approaches, each with unique advantages for reduced censorship and enhanced data ownership, empowering users to control their digital footprint.

4/14 Meet @farcaster, the protocol enabling users to take control of their data and own their social graph, spearheading a fundamental upgrade to conventional social media platforms.

5/14 Farcaster's design allows different social apps to work together smoothly, much like how email systems interact across the internet. This approach introduces a new standard for digital communication, giving users more options for how they connect and interact online.

6/14 The protocol’s core architecture consists of a decentralised network that allows users to maintain a singular social graph across multiple applications. This ensures that users retain their identity and network connections, regardless of individual app restrictions.

7/14 A key differentiator is its client-server relationship. Unlike centralised platforms where a single client interacts with a centralised server, Farcaster allows for multiple servers, each offering diverse features and reducing the risk of power concentration.

8/14 In our new report, we also explore the burgeoning ecosystem of applications within Farcaster, such as @warpcast, @paragraph, @beb and @kiwi, each offering unique experiences and contributing to a rich, diverse social media landscape.

9/14 Farcaster Frames are redefining interaction by allowing users to engage with dynamic content directly in their feeds. They make casts interactive, supporting user actions without leaving the app, increasing Farcaster's DAU growth as developers embrace crypto-native features.

10/14 Given the pervasive content moderation challenges of decentralised platforms, we’re particularly excited about Farcaster's modular approach to separating core protocols from moderation layers, catering to diverse user needs.

11/ 14 The future of decentralised social media presents unique opportunities as well as hurdles. The promise of digital ownership and collective governance is a progressive step forward, but challenges around UX, scalability, and content moderation require innovative solutions.

12/14 Our report focuses on some exciting areas for development. Farcaster's expansion shows great potential, fostering a Web3-centric culture that prioritises user autonomy and ownership. We’re looking forward to seeing innovative deployments of these primitives in the future!

13/14 Huge thanks to @antavedissian from @seedclub, @jc & @n from @beb, and @katiewav from @archetype for their invaluable feedback on our report!

14/14 If you’re an innovator or creator exploring decentralised social platforms and aiming to make the digital space more inclusive, transparent, and user-driven, we’d love to hear from you!

2/14 In the current digital ecosystem, we find ourselves in 'walled gardens' – closed systems under the control of singular corporations. This comes with significant implications for user identities, data privacy, and the freedom of digital relationships.

are we drifting frames yet; research@cherry.xyz

Agreed! Adopting more modularity will be extremely interesting to observe in the evolution of decentralised social, especially finding the right middle ground that doesn’t affect usability but retains underlying benefits of decentralisation. What’s “sufficient” is a fluid concept.

gud post.

we are truly in a modular world: "Farcaster's modular approach to separating core protocols from moderation layers, catering to diverse user needs."

and i find it plausible as a core advantage even if network level moderation will likely still be an ongoing challenge