Decentralized Social Media Firm Lens Eyes Massive Scale-Up

Given
the
power
large
social
media
firms
wield
these
days,
not
to
mention
worries
around
AI-driven
bias,
the
time
is
ripe
for
decentralized
alternatives
like
Lens
to
jump
into
the
spotlight.
Lens,
a
blockchain-based
approach
to
information
sharing,
released
its
latest
version
which
strengthens
the
platform’s
endlessly
customizable
and
collaborative
potential.

Lens,
which
was
founded
in
2022
by
the
creators
of
decentralized
finance
(DeFi)
giant
Aave,
released
its
version
3
on
Monday,
having
already
empowered
some
550,000
users
by
granting
them
complete
ownership
of
their
social
identity,
the
data
they
create,
the
connections
they
make
and
the
audiences
they
communicate
with.

Lens
is

one
of
several
blockchain-oriented,
or
“Web3,”
startups
attempting
to
reach
scale
by
addressing
what
are
seen
as
the
drawbacks
of
social-media
platforms
managed
by
big
centralized
companies
such
as
Facebook
and
Elon
Musk’s
X
(formerly
Twitter).

X
owner
Musk’s
now
close
alignment
with
the
incipient
government
of
Donald
Trump
could
make
this
a
good
time
to
court
a
proportion
of
Americans
with
social
media
alternatives
such
as
Lens.

Lens
founder
Stani
Kulechov
said
he
expects
to
see
“some
increased
activity,
for
sure”
in
the
wake
of
the
U.S.
election.
“But
the
true
spikes
will
come
on
the
application
layer
as
we
see
more
and
more
applications
being
built
on
this
technology,”
Kulechov
said
in
an
interview.

Lens
employs
DeFi’s
concept
of
composability,
the
use
of
Lego-like
building
blocks
to
add
features
and
plug
into
other
applications
within
the
blockchain
space.

With
the
latest
version,
Lens
introduces
a
couple
of
flagship
features
in
the
form
of
information
feeds
and
curated
content
groups.
The
way
feeds
can
be
developed
within
Lens,
means
users
have
the
ability
to
create
what
are
essentially
decentralized
autonomous
organizations
(DAOs),
Kulechov
said,
that
could
range
from
newsletters
to
entire
newspapers
with
thousands
of
contributors.

The
platform’s
foundational
on-chain
identity
and
verification
flexibility
means
a
rising
tide
of
AI-driven
bias
can
be
kept
in
check.

“The
election
showed
that
people
consume
algorithms
that
are
pretty
much
pushed
at
them
and
there’s
very
little
user
choice.
Whether
it’s
with
feeds
or
some
other
type
of
solution,
users
should
be
able
to
choose
their
algorithm,
and
be
able
to
shop
around
and
change
it
knowingly,”
Kulechov
said.