If the definition of "popular" means literally "populated" and "number of people" then of course the answer is "NO" since there are so many bots, sybil accounts and farmers.  I don't think you can replace that quantity with real users as-is right now.

If by "popular" you mean "well-liked" then I think the answer is "YES" because while there would be fewer accounts, the satisfaction average would likely be higher WITHOUT the spam/bots/farmers.

degen was good for some individuals but overall bad for the quality of content on the network

tipcoins have been a very interesting experiment but i think it's clear the impact is net negative

Full-stack digital product consultant @ BoundCorp.net - eng @daylight

tbf it did a lot of good showcasing the programmability/extensibility of Farcaster and it's permissionless nature. the tipping meta was started independently by the early community of users. In terms of the behavior it incentivized, that was a net negative and I'm not sure we'll be able to escape it for a while. But it's also true about the entire crypto space. There's a ton of mercenary capital and farming going on. the only solution in my view is to build better experiences that are so good it dwarfs the unwanted behavior and makes it less appealing.

Probably sitting on a stool | Shower thinker | Collaborative Worldbuilding | Community Games

/farcastles /brians-rescue

that showcasing argument is hella valid and a very good point