Image source: Coin Desk
Aave CEO Stani Kulechov is under the impression that Twitter will not shift to Web3 anytime soon.
Kulechov believes that Web3 will play a significant role in social media.
Lens
The Aave CEO outlined his vision for Lens Protocol.
It is a blockchain-based social media verse that allows users to retain and import their social capital across different platforms.
Kulechov defines social capital as “followers” and “profiles.”
He added that with the current Web2 paradigm, users would have to leave their social capital behind with every account they make with a new service.
Lens, launched in May, is built on the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon.
It uses smart contracts to tokenize social stats like NFTs.
Lens hopes to reinvent the wheel to create a decentralized, interoperable social media protocol.
“I have an audience on Twitter, and I can share my ideas, make connections – that’s social capital that I create there,” said the Aave CEO.
“But I can’t take my followers or my profile and put it in another application that has a better experience for me, reflects my values better, or I have better alignment with.”
Read also: Andreessen Horowitz lends a hand to the new Twitter
Bitcoin
Stani Kulechov compared Lens Protocol to Bitcoin, saying the comparison offers a close analogy between Web2 and Web3 technologies.
“In Bitcoin, you basically own your money, your store of value,” the Aave CEO explained.
“With Lens Protocol, you effectively own your social capital, your social presence.”
Regarding the challenge of scaling Lens Protocol and attracting social media developers to work on it, Kulechov shared they are not looking to get involved with Twitter.
“We have to build new things.”
The popular social media platform was recently taken over by Elon Musk, who is bullish on Dogecoin and owns millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin through Tesla.
Many are under the impression that Musk will bring Twitter into Web3.
Meanwhile, Kulechov says he doubts Twitter will become completely Web3-based soon.
Read also: Dogecoin value shoots up after Elon Musk buys Twitter
Web3
Blockchain technology is still hailed as one of the key drivers of Web3, a decentralized form of the current internet where ownership is distributed among users.
However, the Aave CEO isn’t the first to propose decentralizing social media.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, former CEO, and first user, wanted to create a decentralized standard for social media platforms before leaving Twitter in 2021.
In 2019, Dorsey funded Blue Sky, an independent initiative led by Twitter’s then-CTO Paral Agrawal.
Last year, Dorsey tapped Jay Graber, who took over as project lead from Agrawal.
Agrawal became Twitter’s CEO after Dorsey left before Musk fired him towards the end of October.
Blue Sky recently launched the beta test for its new protocol, opening the waitlist for its app.
About 30,000 people signed up within two days of the announcement.
Reference:
Twitter won’t go Web3 ‘anytime soon’: Aave CEO Stani Kulechov
