Why would we build a social network from scratch ever again?

This is a question I ask myself, after having immersed myself in an immersive way in the social ecosystem of Web3.

Do you know how difficult it is to create a social application?

Let me tell you that it is very, very difficult. It takes a large team of developers working on the frontend to make the interface consistent and easy to use, so the user experience is smooth.

Work is also needed on the backend. The connection to the database, the data recording and its constant consultations. All created from scratch.

Assuming the technical side is covered, this is not enough. You can have the best devs in the world and fail massively.

Not only technical knowledge is needed but also a lot of experience in the social field. It is essential to understand human psychology, our needs, behaviors and tendencies.

Creating a social network is not just doing. It is also understanding, adapting and more importantly capturing users.

But, what if you could get millions of users from day one?

Lens Protocol: An established base

After exploring the Lens Protocol ecosystem this past year, I came to a conclusion that left me in awe.

“You don't need to build a network from scratch, you just need to know how to maintain it”

This sounds completely crazy but it is possible and I will explain how.

How is this possible?

Lens Protocol is precisely a decentralized social protocol. It could be described as a social graph where each user owns their own profile, and with it, the information associated with it.

Within this open source protocol, each user can create their own application leveraging on the information of the profiles that Lens Protocol provides us, and making queries in a simple way thanks to its spectacular API, which has constant support and updates based on the community requests.

Knowing this, an application can be developed and use the information provided to play around and achieve the objectives of each user, thus creating a social network.

Is it really worth leveraging on Lens Protocol?

On the date that the article is being written (02/14/23), the lens user base is +110,000 profiles to whom you can provide access to your application.

As the months go by, not only the users grow but also the engagement on the platform and the activity. This occurs simultaneously in the multiple applications of the ecosystem, since the posts are reflected in all these applications.

Today, there are around 50 applications created on the protocol. They all share the same user base and have access to the same information. Each one gives its touch and its extra functionalities.

What does it take to build in Lens?

The only work that would be required is to create a good frontend that captures the attention of the users, a good application logic that offers an interesting and innovating service for the lens ecosystem, and a good marketing strategy to get that little push that the lens community can give you.

Reflection and commitment to the future

Lens is less than a year old and already has over 100.000 profiles with over 800,000 user interactions in February, and we're only halfway through the month…

Remember that Lens is still in beta and not available to everyone!

It's only a matter of time before more businesses and individual users start building their offerings on Lens and saving lots of money, time, and effort.

All of this would not be possible if it weren't for the great team at Lens Protocol and their constant support of the community. Their constant support is admirable.

For my part, I take the opportunity to be a pioneer in the new generation of social networks