Social media is being reinvented on the blockchain

The Future. Several blockchain-based social platforms are scooping up VC money to scale up and convince users they’re ready for primetime. The goal of these platforms is to give users ownership of their data… but that may only matter if they’re as easy to use as their Web2 counterparts.

Dump the data collection
TikTok may be the peak platform of Web2… but a slate of hopefuls are looking to become the leaders in Web3.

• DSCVR has already raised $9 million from a seed round led by Polychain Capital to build a decentralized social media (DeSo) ecosystem. It already has 100,000 users and has generated millions in NFT sales.
• Farcaster, which allows people to move their profiles across different platforms, raised $30 million from a funding round led by a16z.
• Primitives raised $4 million in a round led by Redpoint to turn users’ crypto wallets into social networks.
• Twitter is even trying to get into the DeSo game with a service called Bluesky that is being built in public to promote transparency.

Will any of these platforms break through the noise and connect with people beyond the decentralized disciples? It might still be too early to tell… but the push for platforms to control less of our personal information may be the building blocks that these platforms hope for.