Community Catalysts: Lens Protocol

Introducing Community Catalysts

The Anima protocol is working towards cultivating trust-based communities by giving users full control over their identities. In line with this mission, we are excited to launch a new content series called "Community Catalysts" that will highlight inspiring projects that prioritize resilience and collaboration in Web3.

To create this series, we are calling on the Anima community to help us identify and showcase the most innovative and inspiring projects.

Every 2 weeks, we will select a project suggested by our community members to explore their vision and goals.

Spotlight on Lens Protocol

Our recent call for community suggestions has already generated several mentions of the Lens protocol. The project's recurring nominations and our shared focus on data ownership and self-sovereignty made it a natural choice for the first edition of our content series.

Ownership

If you haven't heard about Lens Protocol yet, you're missing out. Launched on Polygon in 2022 by none other than Stani Kulechov the Founder of Aave, Lens is one of the leading players in the decentralized social network space.

Just as the Anima protocol was created to enable identity ownership, Lens was built to tackle the issue of data ownership on social networks. The idea that our data belong to us, and that we should have full control over them resonates deeply with our cause.

In web2, social platforms control users’ social graphs, which comprises users' profiles, content, and relationships. They often leverage it for revenue at the users’ expenses. Instead of letting platforms control and monetize their social graph, Lens lets users own their digital roots and use their social graph on any social platform.

Portability

This on-chain social graph ensures that Lens users can freely navigate from one social platform to another, avoiding the need to rebuild everything from scratch. By promoting user control and portability of data, Lens Protocol challenges social networking platforms to create environments and features that serve their members better.

By freeing user data, Lens Protocol creates a level playing field that lowers the entry barriers for companies seeking to break new ground and innovate in the social media arena. When users are empowered by their own data, the monetization of their online activities becomes linked to the user's reputation rather than the platform's popularity.

The retention of users on platforms is then solely tied to the platform's appeal and the unique value proposition it provides. This dynamic promotes innovation within the Decentralized Social media (DeSo) space as platforms continually strive to differentiate themselves and offer new and engaging experiences to their users.

This portability also benefits influencers. As the number of influencers continues to grow rapidly in Web2 with over 50 million claimed content creators, Lens Protocol opens the door for a fair and accessible influencer economy through its platform. Social graph ownership and portability make DeSo an ideal environment for influencers which can now become platform independent.

Retaining users on social media platforms is closely linked to the effort and time required to build a social network. Web2 social networks rely on a network effect that makes it difficult to outdo this system. Once you have all your friends on Facebook, it's unlikely you'll switch to another platform where you have no connections. Breaking this network effect is a daunting task when starting a social network from scratch. However, Lens disrupts this network effect by enabling anyone to launch a front-end and scale up quickly. As a result, it compels market leaders to innovate and not take their users for granted.

Lensverse

The Lens Protocol ecosystem has blossomed to include nearly 300 applications and hackathon projects since its launch. With a user base of over 100,000 and millions of relay transactions facilitated, there is no slowing down in Lenverse. Lenverse strives to foster an atmosphere of camaraderie that acknowledges and uplifts the ingenuity of its creators and builders.

Anima has designed the digital soul of individuals which accompanies them on whatever chain or ecosystem they may go without losing the control of their data. In a similar fashion, the value of a user is not tied to a specific location within the Lensverse, users have the freedom to choose where they want to be, and the value they bring with them travels with them.

Here are some project that mirror existing web2 social media platforms:

• Phaver: The biggest social media app on Lens Protocol similar to Facebook

• Lenster: Similar to twitter, the platform allows users to share and read short messages

• Lenstube: Video sharing platform

• Orb: Social networking platform for professional networking and career development

• Lensta: Social media platform that is primarily focused on sharing photos and videos

Accessibility

Lens Protocol is in line with Anima Protocol’s vision when it comes to prioritizing the user experience and providing solutions based on convenience, accessibility, and security. This mindset supports creation of platforms that are more inclusive and will foster onboarding of new web3 users.

Economic power can also be a barrier to web3 adoption. Just as Anima protocol is a free protocol for its end users, ​​Lens protocol takes great importance in offering a gasless transaction model, making it more affordable and accessible for users.

A reputation-based web3

Web3 operates in a "dark forest" where trust is a scarce resource and every user is treated as a potential scammer. This has led to the development of capital-centric protocols that prioritize financial power over users’.

By leveraging dID and Social Graph to create a reputation system, we could potentially build a new kind of Web3 based on trust and credibility. A web3 that is more user-centric and still privacy-preserving.

This could be a significant step towards a more collaborative and resilient Web3 that operates on a foundation of trust and security. We're excited to explore this potential further and continue to highlight inspiring projects like Lens Protocol that are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in our ecosystem.