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Ferran 🐒
@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 I’m about to say isn’t new. I’ve often been critical of Farcaster’s current growth strategy, and that’s because it’s 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 🐒
@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 who’s always like “Oh u should talk to…” - Mavens: Knowledge nerds. They're specialists and love sharing info on their field. People follow them to know what’s worth paying attention to, and they’re 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, they’d convince you to join. But if they’re into fitness and 90% of the Farcaster feed is about minting, gambling & memecoins… they probably won’t have the energy to sell it (unless that’s their thing)
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Ferran 🐒
@ferran
3/6 These are the types of people who create tipping points in networks. And they're necessary because influence isn’t 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 isn’t 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 that’s probably why they activated the Solana strategy: searching for a more energetic, engaged community.
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Ferran 🐒
@ferran
4/6 So basically as of today with the current strategy… - Farcaster doesn’t 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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t seem interested in becoming a true social layer for the internet. (There’s a history of jeopardizing external clients instead of helping them grow to achieve diverse niches. The branding leans “app-first”, not “protocol-first”. It feels more like a Twitter replacement than an open protocol.)
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Stephan
@stephancill
To be fair I think it’s actually a good thing that farcaster doesn’t try to catch waves. I don’t 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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Ferran 🐒
@ferran
The book is a nice reading, will maybe not tell you anything new tho, but still a good read. What’s interesting about the waves is the opportunity they open to attract Connectors and Mavens. Even if only a small fraction of them stick around, it’s a great boost for the network. These people can organically draw in others who are actively looking for quality content, even after the wave already slowed down or retracted. Waves don't necessarily attract intolerant or antisocial people, btw. It depends on the nature of that wave. For example, nowadays on Bluesky you can find more tolerance and healthy discussion than on Twitter (except if you're far-right, then you would have a bad time there), even if some time ago Bluesky felt like a cancelling culture network.
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