The Lens Protocol project is focused on the construction of a decentralized and non-custodial social graph, with which it seeks to implement a series of unique on-chain social interaction mechanisms, which are analogous to the social media interactions that we can see in Web2, but significantly expanded with unique functionality that allows communities to form and participants to own their own social graph.
BBasically, Lens Protocol seeks to bring the richness of social interactions from Web2 to Web3, facilitating the creation of decentralized protocols designed for the generation of truly decentralized social networks without abandoning the flexibility and interactive richness to which we are accustomed, but rather everything contrary, managing to expand it and make it respect our privacy.
Origin of the Project
Lens Protocol is a newly created project that has been started by a well-known figure in the crypto space: Stani Kulechov, who is the creator of AAVE, one of the largest DeFi protocols in the crypto world.
Stani has openly shared his position on centralized social media. From the “absolute control” that they exert on the masses in a surreptitious way, the lack of privacy, the indiscriminate monetization of data and other negative points, Stani has been very clear about the need to build truly decentralized social networks.
The situation reached its peak in May 2022, when after a temporary Twitter ban on Kulechov's account for a joke (saying that he would become the interim CEO of Twitter), he decided it was time to get down to business. the work, thus announcing on May 18, 2022 the Lens Protocol project.
The objective of the project in any case is clear: to give users back control over their social experiences on the Internet. Undoubtedly a huge goal, but on which there is already a path traveled. Projects like Steem or Hive are a clear example that constructions of this type are possible on blockchain networks.
In addition, projects such as Mastodon or Diaspora have already made it possible to create social network structures that are easy to use and well received. At this point, the biggest challenge of Lens Protocol is to take the best of all these experiences, synthesize them and create a new way of generating social networks and applications on top of them to guarantee new experiences for users, fulfilling its premise: users and their data first. In any case, these are steps that have already begun to take place, since Lens Protocol has built and active applications that take advantage of the potential that this protocol has to offer.
How does Lens Protocol work?
The operation of Lens Protocol lies in the construction of what is known as a decentralized social graph. This graph is a structure that synthesizes a user's profile, their publications, their friends/followers, their interactions and everything necessary to build a digital social profile. In practice, a decentralized social graph is the digital representation of who we are to ourselves and to others.
To build this graph, powerful smart contracts developed on the Polygon network are used, which is the network chosen to handle this type of operation. The choice of Polygon is clear: its speed, low operating cost and its constant technological evolution make it the perfect option to deploy this type of service.
Now, a social network needs data storage spaces and the ability to create links between profiles. Well, for this Lens Protocol makes use of smart contracts and APIs that allow it to generate a decentralized graph database (dGDB) in which all the information about the nodes, edges and various properties of the graph is stored. In other words, these graphs show the participants in a network and the relationship between them. All this storage is done in two parts: one on-chain on Polygon, and the other using decentralized structures such as IPFS, Arweave and even centralized storage systems such as Amazon S3, but all this under encrypted and digitally signed data schemes to avoid the incorrect and improper use of the same.
This is a radical change compared to what we can see on social networks like Twitter or Facebook. In them, all this data structure is totally centralized, but not only that: by using these platforms you are giving up all your data so that it can be used by these companies for different purposes, generally to be used in the generation of profiles that accompany company products, such as advertisements.
Thus, Lens Protocol uses a social graph built on an open source and composable system that can be freely used by creators who wish to establish their own social media platform on Web3. User profiles are represented through NFTs that evolve over time, thanks to the social composition that surrounds them due to our interactions. In addition, the platform is compatible with wallets such as MetaMask, Gnosis Safe and Argent, and the use of Polygon's potential favors interoperability between platforms and blockchains thanks to bridges and other interoperability options that can be built around this solution.
How can we use Lens Protocol?
Lens Protocol is not a decentralized social networking application, but rather a framework for designing decentralized social networking applications. The Lens Protocol is designed to make it easy for developers to create their own applications and take advantage of the full potential found in Web3.
Of course, to get started with the use of the Lens Protocol and the applications that use its technology, we must create an NFT profile that becomes the starting point of our experience. Having a profile allows the user to add content or connect with others. When such a connection is established, an ERC-721 asset is created which is displayed as the equivalent of a "follow".
The core concept revolves around the idea of profile NFTs. Each user can create one, and this will allow you to keep full ownership of your content. These profiles integrate all the posts, comments and reposts (known here as mirrors). In the Lens Protocol ecosystem, these are all called Posts. It is worth mentioning that individual addresses own these NFT profiles, and one address can own multiple NFTs of this type.
The module is another important concept of Lens Protocol. Modules allow users to introduce custom functionality into the system. Each of these modules represents a whitelisted smart contract with code that is executed under specific conditions. The system includes three types of modules.
For example, follow modules can be created that represent the action of a user following another profile. But reference modules can also be generated, which allow us to interact with other users and comment on their posts. Thus, the module structure not only simplifies the design and use of Lens Protocol, but also allows us to create functionalities that are easily adapted to our applications and the needs of users.
Applications that use Lens Protocol
Currently, there is already a small number of applications that use the Lens Protocol for their operation. Among those applications we can mention:
- Lensfrens, an application that allows you to discover and follow other profiles based on a similar footprint on the Web3.
- Lenster: is an open source social network built by the community.
- Phaver, a social mobile app with Lens support and rewarding tokenomics.
- Alps Finance – This is a social DeFi investment platform for DeFi investors to build their own investor community and reputation easily for long-term monetization.
- Refract: is a cryptocurrency bulletin board. Discover new projects, feature interesting articles and share new ideas. The entire experience is curated by the community.
- Sepana: is a search engine to discover the magic of Lens. Find content, users, biographies, social graphs and much more.
- Iris: is an application to subscribe to creators' feeds to access the content they generate.
- Clipto: An app that allows you to own personalized content from your favorite creators.
- Zilly: is a Web3 profile browser to connect people and communities.
All these applications can be accessed from the official website of this project.
In any case, the experience that these applications are looking for is one that is attractive and easy for users to assimilate. For example, Lenster is a microblogging social network (like Twitter) that is very easy to use if you are already used to this network.
Conclusions
Building social media experiences has always been a pain point for blockchain-based Web3 technology, but this is becoming a thing of the past with the arrival of Lens Protocol. This new protocol offers a great tool to develop decentralized social network applications, opening new paths to develop new experiences in this sector.
Although Lens Protocol is a project less than a year old, it has made its potential very clear, one that certainly seeks to transform and revolutionize our digital experience.
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