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Lately, many crypto projects have attempted to create decentralized social media platforms, but due to the monopoly of traditional giants, most struggle to attract users. Former Coinbase engineer Dan Romero's Farcaster, founded in 2020 and backed by a16z with a $30 million investment in 2022, has defied the trend. According to data from Dune Analytics, its daily active users have grown over tenfold after entering 2024, even drawing exclusive articles from Ethereum founder Vitalik.
So, what makes Farcaster, endorsed by Vitalik and a16z, stand out? In this week's CryptoSnap, Dr. DODO introduces us to Farcaster, a kingpin project in the Web3 Social realm.
What is Farcaster?
Farcaster is a decentralized social network protocol aimed at providing users with a more open, free, and secure social experience. Departing from the limitations of centralized server-based social applications like Facebook, Twitter, or Weibo, Farcaster reshapes the landscape of traditional social media through innovative blockchain technology.
In the Farcaster ecosystem, users have their decentralized identity (FID), enabling them to migrate data freely between various social applications, ensuring control over their social assets. Farcaster also employs distributed data storage architecture and privacy protection technologies like end-to-end encryption, maximizing the security and privacy of user data.
Technical Aspects of Farcaster
Technologically, Farcaster has established a robust infrastructure for decentralized social networks through a series of innovative solutions. The Farcaster community network encompasses three levels: the identity layer, data layer, and application layer.
- Identity Layer: Based on Ethereum, it determines operational permissions on the network, with identity and authentication at its core.
- Data Layer: Stores information authorized by the identity layer, ensuring its availability.
- Application Layer: Consumes information from the data layer to provide services to users.
At the identity layer, Farcaster introduces usernames and Farcaster IDs (FID). FID is a unique digital identifier binding an Ethereum address, immutable and permanent. Users can choose to register a username bound to FID for ease of use, but usernames are managed by separate contracts and may be reclaimed, unlike FID, which is permanent. FID can also be used for identity recovery, allowing users to preset another address as a recovery credential, which can be another wallet, a trusted friend's address, or even a third-party custodian.
Regarding data storage, Farcaster differs from centralized applications by having users back up data to nodes called Hubs instead of using server storage. To curb spam, Farcaster charges users an annual rent for data storage. This not only serves as the primary income source for the protocol but also encourages users to delete low-value data to enhance network quality. On the application layer, Farcaster is different from Twitter and Facebook; it is not a direct social app but a foundational social protocol. Anyone can build front-end applications based on Farcaster, following the protocol's rules. Protocol changes are executed through FIPs (Farcaster Improvement Proposals), accepted by developers, app providers, and users without a mandatory voting mechanism or veto power.
Farcaster at the Application Level
As mentioned earlier, Farcaster is not a single social app but a protocol. There are currently multiple front-end applications based on Farcaster, with Warpcast being the most widely used social app in the Farcaster ecosystem. It features a user interface and operation experience similar to Twitter, supporting the publication and interaction of various multimedia content.
Other notable Farcaster-based applications include:
- Searchcaster: A search engine service based on Farcaster, allowing users to retrieve content through keywords, tags, and other methods.
- Yup: A social aggregator that allows users to cross-publish content on Twitter and Lens.
- Jam: The first dApp to introduce the concept of "Friends Token" to Lens and Farcaster, providing a function similar to Friend.tech's personal subscription.
- Alphacaster: A DAO community voting governance tool that categorizes the community based on users' wallet asset types. Users must hold specific assets to speak in the corresponding community.
Of course, many Farcaster ecosystem applications are still in development, and this article mentions only a few representative examples with a relatively large user base.
Farcaster Frames
Talking about Farcaster applications inevitably brings up the revolutionary feature that has driven Farcaster's recent surge - Frames. Frame is a groundbreaking innovation in the Farcaster ecosystem, allowing developers to seamlessly embed various interactive mini-programs in users' social content. With Frames, users can directly participate in a rich application experience, such as gaming, voting, NFT minting, e-commerce shopping, while browsing their social information flow. This "composability" completely breaks down the barriers of traditional social media, turning the social network into an infinitely expandable super app.
Since the introduction of Frames, Farcaster's playability has significantly increased. Developers can easily combine their creativity with social scenes, reaching more potential users. |
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Post time 19-3-2024 07:14:27