Lens V2: A New Chapter in Web3 Social

The V2 version of Lens Protocol has recently completed its migration. This new version is centered around the core principles of openness, composability, shared benefits, trust, and security, bringing exciting functional updates to users. Users can not only interact with smart contracts within social media but also execute external smart contract operations in Lens publications.

As one of the pioneers in the Web3 social networking space, Lens is dedicated to overcoming the limitations of traditional Web2 platforms. The CEO of Lens Protocol stated that the goal of V1 is to launch a Web3 social network, promote innovation, and test tools that benefit the Lens ecosystem. V2, on the other hand, pursues a more flexible modular design, aimed at further increasing user autonomy in their social networking experience. Lens V2 is expected to bring revolutionary changes to social capital and user experience in Web3 social networks.

Challenges and Breakthroughs of Web3 Social

Currently, the development of Web3 social platforms faces some challenges. Traditional social networks find it difficult to establish themselves in the Web3 environment because social activities are much more complex than simple financial transactions. Social networks in the Web3 world require more functionalities and features to meet user needs.

One of the main challenges is that social networks built solely on specific content or business models often lack vitality. Users may flock in just for rewards, rather than having a genuine interest in Web3 social interactions. This leads to issues of fleeting user engagement and a lack of deep interactions.

In addition, traditional social media platforms control users' data and social relationships, making it difficult for users to focus on building their own Web3 social networks. They are accustomed to establishing and maintaining social relationships on traditional platforms, so there are barriers to transitioning to decentralized platforms to build new social networks.

Past Web3 social platforms attempted to establish social value through issuing social tokens, community passports, and NFT artworks. However, these platforms still rely on traditional Web2 social platforms to connect users and disseminate value. This dependency poses a vulnerability; once traditional platforms sever their connection with Web3 social platforms, the social value built upon them will also disappear.

To overcome these challenges, Lens Protocol has emerged as a decentralized underlying protocol for social networks. Unlike familiar social media, Lens Protocol itself is a social network. It enables third-party developers to easily build their own social media applications based on the protocol by sharing users and user data. The goal of Lens Protocol is not to achieve a Web3 social network through a single application, but to create a shareable social network in the form of a foundational protocol, promoting the development of the Web3 social network by driving the growth of the entire ecosystem.

Lens: Create a Shareable Social Network

Lens is an innovative social network based on foundational protocols, standing out for its shareable features. By transforming personal profiles, followers, collectors, and content into NFTs, Lens empowers users with more rights and opportunities. At the same time, the introduction of programmable modules enhances the composability and openness of the social platform.

Personal Homepage NFT is one of the core concepts of Lens innovation. It transforms the user's personal homepage into a non-fungible token, containing the user's personal information, followers, and content-related data. This tokenization mechanism grants users the ability to autonomously manage their personal identity and trade in the NFT market. Users can utilize their personal homepage NFT through selling, leasing, or granting authorization, obtaining financial returns while ensuring the security and privacy of their personal information.

The concept of Follower NFTs aims to fairly reflect the status of followers within social networks. Each Follower NFT is associated with a specific personal homepage NFT and grants the follower a unique serial number, representing their order and importance within the social network. This is not only a form of identity credential but also represents the social rights of followers within the social network, promoting more balanced and equitable interactions among users.

Collector NFT enables the collection and sharing of content within social networks. Users can convert their favorite content into non-fungible Collector NFTs, which can be associated with their personal homepage NFTs. This grants users collection rights over specific content and showcases their interests and tastes within the social network. Other users can acquire Collector NFTs through trading or authorization, sharing and displaying common interests and values.

Content NFTs allow users to convert their creative works into NFTs and associate them with personal homepage NFTs. This provides creators with a broader platform for display and trading, facilitating the appreciation and protection of creative achievements. Users can also acquire content NFTs from other users through trading or licensing, enriching the content options and experiences within the social network.

Programmable modules as part of the underlying protocol enable developers to customize various social interaction features according to their needs. These modules include social behaviors such as following, favoriting, commenting, and sharing, and developers can expand their functionalities by writing smart contracts. The introduction of modules provides users with flexibility and a personalized experience, unlocking innovative application scenarios such as paid subscriptions and advertising incentives.

Through these designs and features, Lens has created a shareable social network in the form of a basic protocol. Various NFTs collectively build the user's social capital, enabling them to self-manage and share. Programmable modules provide developers with innovative application scenarios, expanding the functionalities and possibilities of the social network.

This design based on tokenized social relationships makes Lens an open, scalable, and customizable social network ecosystem that meets the diverse needs of users and promotes the sharing and appreciation of social capital.

Lens V2 New Features: Open Operations and Shared Value Sharing

Lens V2 is the latest version of LensProtocol, released during the Ethereum Community Conference in Paris in July 2023. It showcases a range of exciting new features, including "open operations, shared value, profile updates, and profile management," marking a further improvement in modular design, providing users with greater autonomy and flexibility.

Open Operations - Composable Social Network

Lens V2 introduces open operation capabilities, further enhancing the composability of social networks. This open framework allows developers to directly integrate external smart contract operations within Lens, creating innovative experiences. Users and developers can choose different functions and combine them based on their interests and needs, creating unique social experiences.

The composability of open operations also enables cross-chain interactions. Lens users can interact with other blockchain networks and participate in different ecosystems. For example, users can purchase land on a certain virtual world platform through Lens, join DAOs, or make donations. This cross-chain operation expands users' social networks into a broader blockchain world, bringing more opportunities and experiences.

Sharing of Common Values

Lens V2 provides an innovative solution to the long-standing issues of content transportation and plagiarism in Web2 social media by building a value chain of contributions. It allows everyone who participates in linking the content to share in the revenue generated by that content.

In this process, content creators, content promoters (curators), and the platform can all participate in content revenue. Original users do not need to promote themselves or repost on other platforms to enjoy revenue from multiple platforms. The role of curators becomes very important, as they are responsible for promoting user-generated content to more people or publishing it on other platforms, while also being able to share in the revenue.

Lens V2 also provides support for intelligent algorithms, helping users and curators promote content more efficiently, allowing more people to see and share the benefits. This approach ensures that every participant in the chain can gain profits, encouraging the continuous creation of original content and attracting more attention from people, while also fostering the prosperity and development of the community.

Profile Update

Lens V2 further expands the personal profile functionality by introducing new standards. Each Lens personal profile can create a smart contract wallet account, possessing all the functions of an Ethereum account, including holding NFTs and token assets, as well as interacting with Dapps. This enhances the programmability and interoperability of personal profiles.

The focus on architecture has also improved. The focus relationships have shifted from wallet addresses to personal profiles, with all social operations occurring between personal profiles. Personal profiles can choose to tokenize NFTs, and all focus relationships are associated with personal profiles. When a personal profile moves, its social network also moves, providing greater flexibility and convenience for users.

In addition, Lens V2 has changed the paradigm of social asset systems. Personal profiles have become independent entities with their own social graphs and following systems. The value of social graph relationships is directly attached to personal profiles, making the profiles themselves valuable social assets.

Personal Profile Management

Lens V2 introduces a new layer of personal profile security, allowing users to delegate social operations to different wallets. Users can switch between multiple wallets as needed without having to bind all social functions to a single wallet address. This flexibility enables users to manage their personal profiles more conveniently and choose the most suitable wallet for operations.

Lens V2 also supports various association modes, allowing users to bind one profile to multiple wallet addresses, or manage multiple profiles with one wallet address. This flexibility enables users to choose the most suitable association mode based on their needs and usage scenarios.

Improvements in account management allow users to manage their personal profiles more flexibly. Users can choose to host their personal profiles in a secure cold wallet while delegating social functions to other wallet addresses for operations. This decoupling of personal profiles from wallet addresses enhances security while also providing users with more choices and convenience.

Summary

Lens Protocol is steadily advancing through continuous version iterations, aiming to become a truly decentralized Web3 social platform with sustainable social value. On Lens Protocol, users have more control and data sovereignty, and are encouraged to actively participate, contribute, and interoperate with other applications and protocols. Currently, the Lens Protocol ecosystem has developed over 100 applications, covering various fields such as social entertainment, incentive mechanisms, and professional communication, catering to different user needs.

This diverse collection of applications showcases the advantages of an open social graph, going beyond the limitations of traditional single social media applications. Users gain more power as their profiles and relationships no longer merely exist on privately hosted servers, but become assets they personally own. The Lens Protocol, as a protocol-based shared social network, has pioneered a new landscape for Web3 social by empowering users and allowing them to choose how to develop and monetize the social network.