Decentralized social networks (DeSo)

New social networks based on blockchain began to emerge, giving rise to an entire industry known as Decentralized Social (DeSo).

What are decentralized networks, and are they necessary?

DeSo refers to any social platform that stores and processes data using blockchain technology. Governance is handed over to the community following the model of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

The creation of decentralized social platforms was driven by the flaws in traditional social media, such as Twitter (X), which have increasingly disappointed users in recent years.

Censorship: traditional social networks are heavily censored. Content is filtered thoroughly, and accounts can be banned, sometimes for arbitrary reasons.

Monopoly and revenue centralization: major platforms monopolize user-generated income. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok reportedly take 45% to 70% of ad revenue.

Restricted monetization: monetizing content is limited to high-performing accounts. For instance, Twitter (X) requires at least 5 million monthly views to enable monetization. New bloggers are often left with just donations or direct sponsorships.

On decentralized platforms, users can monetize their content without intermediaries. Blockchain also introduces new monetization formats. For example, creators can accept crypto payments or issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Some crypto influencers sell NFT collections via posts on the Farcaster social network. Major brands like Puma and Adidas are testing NFT giveaways using the Lens decentralized protocol.

Finally, traditional platforms rely on centralized servers, vulnerable to hacking. Surfshark says over 2.6 billion personal data breaches occurred in 2023 alone.

Which decentralized social networks exist today?

Friends.tech

One of the first DeSo platforms was built on the Layer 2 Base network. Every user profile is tokenized and can be traded as a blockchain asset — like a regular token or NFT.

Profile owners can also issue and sell "Shares," which grant buyers access to private chats or exclusive content.

At its 2023 peak, Friend.tech reached around 800,000 users and up to 200,000 daily active users. In September 2023, it surpassed Uniswap in revenue, generating over $50 million in fees that month.

Farcaster

A platform for creating decentralized social apps on Optimism's Layer 2 (OP Mainnet). Due to its similar interface, it's often called a "decentralized Twitter."

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin uses Farcaster. According to Dune Analytics, the platform has around 350,000 users.

Farcaster's standout feature is its "frames" — mini DApps embedded directly in the post feed. These allow users to vote in DAOs or exchange NFTs and meme tokens without leaving the platform.

Lens Protocol

A decentralized social graph protocol built on Polygon's Layer 2 blockchain. It boasts over 200,000 users and more than 500,000 monthly transactions.

Lens introduces NFT profiles: when a user creates a profile, it becomes an NFT that can be transferred via a wallet or traded on a marketplace.

Every platform action — like a like or follow — is recorded on-chain. This helps reduce spam, as each transaction incurs a small fee. However, it also slows down platform performance.

Minds

Minds is a decentralized alternative to traditional video and streaming platforms, often referred to as the "anonymous YouTube." Built on Ethereum, Minds has around 500,000 users.

The platform uses its own ERC-20 token, MINDS, which allows creators to monetize their content — authors earn MINDS tokens for each like.

Minds' key feature is the lack of censorship, unlike YouTube's restrictive content policies, which often hinder creators.

Conclusion

Decentralized platforms are unlikely to replace Twitter (X) or YouTube shortly. Key obstacles include:

• High entry barrier for newcomers (e.g., needing a crypto wallet).
• Slow performance due to blockchain's limited scalability.
• Lack of mainstream content that can attract a broad audience.

However, the DeSo trend is gaining momentum. Expect improved interfaces, UX optimization, and AI assistant integration in the next two years. Analysts predict that by 2030, 15% to 20% of centralized social media users will migrate to DeSo platforms.