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What is Lens Protocol?

What is Lens Protocol?

TL;DR

  • A blockchain-based redesign of social media for the Web3 era, Lens Protocol is.

A blockchain-based redesign of social media for the Web3 era, Lens Protocol is. This Aave project spinoff, however, welcomes decentralization and wants all users to control their work and even profit it, unlike modern social media sites.

What are the possibilities that Lens Protocol will usher in a web3 social media revolution? Is it inevitable that blockchain technology will be used in social media in the future? In this thorough post, we examine this as well as the definition and operation of Lens Protocol.

With the use of web3, the project Lens Protocol aims to reimagine the principles and potential of social media.

Social media firms in web2 centrally develop their social graphs. Nodes in a social graph stand in for people, groups, and the connections between them. Common social media platforms that make use of social graphs keep track of all the data in one place. In other words, the data utilized on the site is not genuinely owned by the consumers. Blockchain technology can help regain some control for common people on web3.

A decentralized and composable social network that runs on blockchain is how Lens Protocol describes itself. The initiative aims to make it simple for participants to build their own web3 social networking sites. The social network is centered on user ownership, and the project’s success depends on the features’ capacity to be customized.

Since it was revealed in early 2022, the project has attracted a lot of interest. This has a lot to do with the team that is working on it. The initiative is a spinoff of Aave, one of the key Ethereum lending platforms, and was conceptualized by Stani Kulechov, the company’s creator.

The project’s utilization of a decentralized social network is its core component. The usage of a graph database is typically used to create this (GDB). Data is stored in a GDB using graph structures, which have nodes, edges, and different characteristics. In other words, these graphs display the network’s members as well as their connections.

It is vital to learn how Lens Protocol differs from its present rivals in order to comprehend how it genuinely operates. A social graph can be arranged in several ways. The majority of well-known social media sites, like Facebook or LinkedIn, rely on a centralized service.

Social graphs are also developed using data silos. In this case, data is unavailable to other apps that might want to interact with the platform. This indicates that the platform’s architecture cannot be changed. It also implies that the platform can have a single point of failure, making it impossible to use if the server goes down.

A composable and open-source social graph is used by Lens Protocol. Creators wishing to launch their own social media network on web3 can utilize this without restriction. NFTs are used to represent user profiles. All of the profiles are stored in the Polygon PoS layer 2 solution. Also supported by the platform are wallets like Argent, Gnosis Safe, and MetaMask.

For individuals interested in building their own decentralized social media environment, Lens Protocol offers to provide the tools necessary to do so. Any user-posted material, including textual posts and avatar changes, is accessible on chain.

Modularity allows for the creation of new features by creative users. The community will then have to decide whether to support them. To put it another way, these technologies may make the information and the kind of information that is shared freely and accepted by the community.

The much-anticipated web3 may usher in a new age of connection, as suggested by Lens Protocol. All authors have access to the decentralized, composable social graph. New social media sites may appear as a result. This ensures that free expression will continue to exist. Additionally, it is a technique to guarantee that the data you post on social media platforms stays yours.

Tools from Lens Protocol are available to help the web3 community. Technically, anybody wishing to develop a new social media network may use the protocol. Additionally, these elements must to be simple to modify. Which of these features is most frequently implemented is something that is left up to the community.

Ownership of data, improved connection, access to more information, a permissionless network whose service cannot be interrupted, and the absence of a single entity managing the information are some advantages of the Lens Protocol.

Utilizing the Lens Protocol

The layout of Lens Protocol makes it simple for producers to create their social network accounts or for supporters of web3 to interact with other users. The protocol uses a few fundamental ideas to fulfill these goals.

Each profile is represented by one, and the establishment of a profile NFT marks the beginning of a user’s journey on Lens Protocol. The user can interact with people or offer information by having a profile. An NFT-721 asset will be generated and shown as the equivalent of an NFT-follow after such a link has been made.

The notion of profile NFTs serves as the main idea. One may be made by each user, allowing them to keep full control over their material. These profiles incorporate each post, remark, and reshare (known here as mirrors). These are all together referred to as Publications inside the Lens Protocol ecosystem. It is important to note that these profile NFTs are owned by specific addresses, and that an address may hold different NFTs of this type.

Another vital idea in the Lens Protocol is the module. Users can add unique functionality to the system using the modules. These modules each stand for a whitelisted smart contract containing code that executes only in certain circumstances. The system has three different kinds of modules.

The architecture of Lens Protocol largely mimics social network features in a blockchain-based environment. Through the implementation of smart contracts, each of these ideas is enforced.

All of the content created by authors, curators, and everyday users is included in publications. Posts, comments, and mirroring are examples of this.

Users can contribute more content to a post on another profile by leaving a comment. A user’s Profile NFT stores all of their remarks on a chain.

Similar to reposts, mirrors enable the distribution of material across the network. The terms set out by the originating profile that first uploaded the content apply to the mirrored content.

Creators may monetise their work using Collect. In accordance with the terms set out by the original publisher, other users can utilize this to mint NFTs of the content released by the original profile.

Users can follow other accounts to keep tabs on them. The creation of such a relationship leads to the minting of Follow NFTs. The prerequisites for this form of connection may vary depending on each profile. For instance, a profile could decide that in this situation, X MATIC in fees must be paid. Additionally, Follow NFTs have a built-in governance feature.

The usage of social media is widespread, yet the material that common users produce for these networks is not their own. Additionally, these websites have the authority to block content that violates their policies.

Web3 provides an upgrade, and initiatives like Lens Protocol are driving this change. Users may take use of blockchain technology’s potential to enhance their social media experience and even personalize their platform. Whatever the project, the advantages of web3 for social media are clear and have the potential to make a big influence, whether it’s Lens Protocol or another one.