itSaurabh @onchainword - Twitter Profile

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7 months ago

A full deep-dive into Lens Protocol: From its explosive 2022 launch to today’s slowdown (1/7) Lens Protocol started in 2022 with a bold promise: giving people true ownership of their social identity. Profiles, posts, followers, everything stored on-chain instead of controlled by big platforms. Backed by major investors and early excitement, over half a million profiles were minted within months. Many of us OG contributors joined in the early days, building, posting, and helping the ecosystem grow. (2/7) The early phase felt powerful. Daily activity crossed twenty thousand transactions, community-led apps like Lenster (now https://t.co/Vmy8HH3iQE), Phaver, and Orb gave Lens a real shot at becoming a Twitter alternative. Tipping creators became common, especially using tokens like BONSAI. Millions of interactions were recorded, and the feeling was simple: this is what a real on-chain social network should look like. (3/7) One unforgettable moment showed what Lens could be. In April 2024, artist Violetta Zironi posted an unreleased track on Orb. Within twelve hours, she received an eight-thousand-dollar anonymous tip. She said it was life-changing. These were the moments that kept OG contributors motivated. The energy was real, and creators felt genuinely supported. (4/7) By 2023–2024, momentum slowed. Gas costs rose, UX stayed complicated, and the ecosystem lacked a clear token or reward model. Major apps like butterfly, Phaver shut down, and https://t.co/Vmy8HH3iQE announced the team’s exit despite having hundreds of thousands of users. Activity dropped to almost one or two thousand transactions per day. Even after the Lens Chain launch, deployment remained slow and developer activity fell sharply. (5/7) For thousands of contributors who stayed active for three years, this period felt disappointing. People who posted daily, tipped creators, onboarded communities, and invested both time and money received no retroactive rewards, no badges, and no recognition. OGs kept the ecosystem alive, yet often felt overlooked. The BONSAI hack added another layer of loss, when liquidity was wiped and promised airdrops disappeared. (6/7) At the same time, the contrast with Farcaster became obvious. Farcaster rewarded its users consistently with weekly USDC payouts, developer incentives, and multiple engagement-based reward systems. Their ecosystem grew rapidly because contributors felt valued. Lens, despite having the early advantage and a more flexible graph, struggled to match that momentum. (7/7) Lens is not dead; it is simply dormant. It still has strong foundations: Ethereum security, low fees, and a social graph that users truly own. But it needs decisive action. A fair retroactive airdrop for contributors, a safer and audited tipping system, weekly incentive pools, better mobile apps, and a community-led governance model. With these steps, Lens can return stronger and reclaim the energy it once had. The next chapter depends on recognizing the people who built the first one. @LC @StaniKulechov @orb_club

onchainword's tweet photo. A full deep-dive into Lens Protocol: From its explosive 2022 launch to today’s slowdown

(1/7)
Lens Protocol started in 2022 with a bold promise: giving people true ownership of their social identity. Profiles, posts, followers, everything stored on-chain instead of controlled by big platforms. Backed by major investors and early excitement, over half a million profiles were minted within months. Many of us OG contributors joined in the early days, building, posting, and helping the ecosystem grow.

(2/7)
The early phase felt powerful. Daily activity crossed twenty thousand transactions, community-led apps like Lenster (now https://t.co/Vmy8HH3iQE), Phaver, and Orb gave Lens a real shot at becoming a Twitter alternative. Tipping creators became common, especially using tokens like BONSAI. Millions of interactions were recorded, and the feeling was simple: this is what a real on-chain social network should look like.

(3/7)
One unforgettable moment showed what Lens could be. In April 2024, artist Violetta Zironi posted an unreleased track on Orb. Within twelve hours, she received an eight-thousand-dollar anonymous tip. She said it was life-changing. These were the moments that kept OG contributors motivated. The energy was real, and creators felt genuinely supported.

(4/7)
By 2023–2024, momentum slowed. Gas costs rose, UX stayed complicated, and the ecosystem lacked a clear token or reward model. Major apps like butterfly, Phaver shut down, and https://t.co/Vmy8HH3iQE announced the team’s exit despite having hundreds of thousands of users. Activity dropped to almost one or two thousand transactions per day. Even after the Lens Chain launch, deployment remained slow and developer activity fell sharply.

(5/7)
For thousands of contributors who stayed active for three years, this period felt disappointing. People who posted daily, tipped creators, onboarded communities, and invested both time and money received no retroactive rewards, no badges, and no recognition. OGs kept the ecosystem alive, yet often felt overlooked. The BONSAI hack added another layer of loss, when liquidity was wiped and promised airdrops disappeared.

(6/7)
At the same time, the contrast with Farcaster became obvious. Farcaster rewarded its users consistently with weekly USDC payouts, developer incentives, and multiple engagement-based reward systems. Their ecosystem grew rapidly because contributors felt valued. Lens, despite having the early advantage and a more flexible graph, struggled to match that momentum.

(7/7)
Lens is not dead; it is simply dormant. It still has strong foundations: Ethereum security, low fees, and a social graph that users truly own. But it needs decisive action. A fair retroactive airdrop for contributors, a safer and audited tipping system, weekly incentive pools, better mobile apps, and a community-led governance model. With these steps, Lens can return stronger and reclaim the energy it once had. The next chapter depends on recognizing the people who built the first one.

@LC
@StaniKulechov
@orb_club

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