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Ferran đ
@ferran
1/6 I was reading this new paper on how 300K academics migrated from X to Bluesky, and I wanted to share some reflections because it shows quite clearly how social networks actually grow. What Iâm about to say isnât new. Iâve often been critical of Farcasterâs current growth strategy, and thatâs because itâs not grounded in how networks or virality really work. Instead, it feels that FC is based on well-funded wishful thinking: abstract ideas wrapped in the language of innovation, blending Read/Write/Own concepts with old-school Silicon Valley consumer app logic⌠without fully committing to either. At the end of the day it leans heavily on FOMO and incentives to drive (low-quality) growth. (Farcaster Pro subscriptions stalling as soon as users -or bots- hit the 10k NFT reward cap is a perfect example of this.) And yes, experimentation is great. Some of the best ideas emerge from it. But we also have a long-established understanding of how humans (as social and emotional animals) behave.
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Ferran đ
@ferran
2/6 I read The Tipping Point a while back (sorry if there are errors), and honestly, I think Farcaster has more to learn from that book than from any corporate or Web3 playbook out there According to the author there are three key archetypes that drive the spread of ideas and the growth of social networks: - Connectors: People who seem to know everyone across different social, professional, and cultural circles. You know, the kind of person whoâs always like âOh u should talk toâŚâ - Mavens: Knowledge nerds. They're specialists and love sharing info on their field. People follow them to know whatâs worth paying attention to, and theyâre often the ones others love to read or listen to - Salesmen: Charismatic high-energy persuaders. e.g., if Farcaster were a great place for fitness content, theyâd convince you to join. But if theyâre into fitness and 90% of the Farcaster feed is about minting, gambling & memecoins⌠they probably wonât have the energy to sell it (unless thatâs their thing)
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@ferran
3/6 These are the types of people who create tipping points in networks. And they're necessary because influence isnât distributed equally. And right now, Farcaster is mostly missing this people (except maybe some little-influencers in the Web3-builder bubble): Those who resonate with builders and crypto bros. This creates a self-reinforcing barrier⌠one that keeps pushing away anyone who isnât already fluent in that niche (and even people in that niche that has life outside of it and finds the feed boring and monothematic). And I would say, even within that niche, Farcaster is struggling to attract its top connectors. And thatâs probably why they activated the Solana strategy: searching for a more energetic, engaged community.
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Ferran đ
@ferran
4/6 So basically as of today with the current strategy⌠- Farcaster doesnât seem interested in catching the wave when other networks fail (e.g. X being censored in Brazil, or its takeover by an unstable billionaire with far-right sympathies). - Farcaster doesnât seem interested in attracting or spotlighting diverse voices in the feed. (Connectors and Mavens would have a hard time sticking around. Salesmen would have a hard time convincing their friends.) - Farcaster doesnât seem interested in becoming a true social layer for the internet. (Thereâs a history of jeopardizing external clients instead of helping them grow to achieve diverse niches. The branding leans âapp-firstâ, not âprotocol-firstâ. It feels more like a Twitter replacement than an open protocol.)
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Ferran đ
@ferran
5/6 As of today, the only clear growth strategy is using some decent levers (like âearn onchain with Farcasterâ)⌠but that mostly produces low-quality content or content that ressonates with the current memberbase, and blocks the inclusion of strong supernodes (connectors) across a range of topics (which is exactly what people look for in a social network). To make things worse, the growth via miniapps is completely siloed inside Farcaster and mostly focused on minting/gambling loops⌠meaning it canât even drive growth outside Farcasterâs current boundaries, helping Farcaster become a social layer. So whatâs happening? đ Farcaster is growing against its own network logic. Itâs doing okay as a crypto-native Twitter clone. But if it truly wants to become a social layer for the internet (one based on Web3 principles) itâs going to need more than rewards and mint/bet buttons.
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Stephan
@stephancill
To be fair I think itâs actually a good thing that farcaster doesnât try to catch waves. I donât think those users typically stick anyway and it selects for a group of people that is generally intolerant and (ironically) antisocial But then again you probably miss out on groups like the academics looking for a new home. Will definitely look into that paper and Tipping Point, thanks for sharing https://x.com/paulg/status/1930194301129994394
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