Lens
Protocol,
a
decentralized
social
media
platform
a
sister
project
to
the
lending
protocol
Aave,
has
released
its
“V2”
upgrade
on
Polygon’s
main
network
–
introducing
a
range
of
new
features
including
multisig-managed
profiles
and
tipping
on
“smart
posts.”
Lens
is
among
a
handful
of
blockchain-oriented
startups
aiming
to
capitalize
on
what
experts
have
characterized
as
drawbacks
of
so-called
“Web2”
social-media
platforms
managed
by
big
centralized
companies
such
as
Facebook
and
Elon
Musk’s
X
(formerly
Twitter).
“Web3”
is
the
catch-all
term
for
decentralizing
these
projects
with
blockchain
technology.
“The
goal
of
V1
was
to
bootstrap
early
Web3
social
networks,
resulting
in
creativity,
experimentation
and
new
discovery
tools
that
benefited
the
Lens
ecosystem,”
Aave
founder
Stani
Kulechov,
who
also
serves
as
CEO
of
Lens
Protocol,
said
in
a
press
release.
Lens
V2,
he
said,
moves
“progressively
towards
a
more
modular”
design,
giving
users
“greater
autonomy
and
flexibility”
in
their
social
media
experiences.
This
could
eventually
include
things
like
being
able
to
move
around
your
“social
graph”
(a
term
of
art
for
your
following
and
followers)
between
interactive
platforms.
Unveiled
in
February
2022,
the
Lens
project
raised
$15
million
from
investors
including
IDEO
CoLab
Ventures,
General
Catalyst,
Blockchain
Capital
and
Palm
Tree
as
well
as
individual
contributions
from
Uniswap
CEO
Hayden
Adams,
OpenSea
co-founder
Alex
Atallah,
entrepreneur
Balaji
Srinivasan
and
Polygon
co-founder
Sandeep
Nailwal.
According
to
the
press
release,
the
Lens
upgrade
introduces
new
features
including
Profile
Manager,
which
“allows
Profiles
to
be
managed
by
one
or
more
persons,
multisigs
and
DAOs,”
along
with
Handles,
which
creates
another
identity
layer
that
distinguishes
“profiles”
from
“handles”
on
the
platform.”
Another
feature
is
“Pay
to
read
the
rest”
where
developers
can
post
previews
of
posts
and
then
set
payment
options
to
read
the
entire
piece,
which
seems
to
draw
influence
from
the
paid
“subscriber”
feature
on
X/Twitter.
Lens
“smart
posts,”
another
way
to
monetize
content
using
the
protocol,
supports
tipping,
voting,
subscribing
and
donating.