In an increasingly interconnected world dominated by social media platforms, concerns about centralization and the lack of user control have reached a boiling point.
We’ve talked about the death of third-party cookies and web3, but there’s a new company promising to revolutionize the social media landscape and put the power back into the hands of content creators.
Lens Protocol, a blockchain-based open-source social graph, follows the decentralization trend and empowers content creators to reclaim ownership of their digital roots and regain full control over the connections that bind them to their communities.
Presently, when content creators—and brands, for that matter—garner a following on a platform, they are bound to that platform’s rules. If they get kicked out or temporarily banned, they lose access to their audience completely. With Lens Protocol’s intervention, however, creators can link all of their online profiles, so when a user follows them on one app, they can follow them on every platform. It offers a decentralized social network where users completely own their data and links, allowing them to regain control over their information. This gives creators complete control of their audience and the ability to bring them wherever they go; they own the community they build.
Introduced in early 2022, Lens Protocol quickly gained attention in the blockchain and cryptocurrency communities. And, with conversations about state-by-state TikTok bans growing in the U.S. from the end of 2022 into 2023, the concept of decentralized social media is certainly appealing. This paradigm-shifting approach marks a significant departure from the traditional models employed by social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, which use centralized social graphs to connect users.
Lens Protocol is not a standalone social network but rather a permissionless and composable social graph built on top of the Polygon blockchain. Its open-source nature allows developers to build their own social platforms on the protocol, expanding its potential for innovation and customization.
If this sounds confusing to you and completely outside of standard social media marketing—stay with us. Even if your B2B isn’t in web3, the reason Lens Protocol is garnering attention is due to the demand they are tapping into—and that demand does apply to your B2B, regardless of the industry.
NFTs and the decentralized social graph
By leveraging non-fungible tokens (NFTs), each piece of content on the protocol is associated with ownership rights, allowing creators to have a say in how their posts are used and shared. This approach addresses concerns related to centralized platforms and their ability to influence user experiences and content moderation.
In this new decentralized architecture, content creators hold the key to their own destinies, deciding the fate of their creations and determining the extent to which their work permeates the digital landscape.
By enabling ownership rights through NFTs, creators can unlock new avenues for revenue generation, emancipating themselves from the traditional advertising-dependent models that dominate the industry. This economic empowerment—if realized—will redefine the relationship between creators and platforms.
Lens Protocol’s Impact on Web3 Marketing and the Democratization of social media
Lens Protocol’s emergence as a decentralized social graph has reverberated across web3 marketing—but it has yet to make a splash in the rest of the digital marketing world.
One key ramification of Lens Protocol’s NFT-powered approach is the restoration of user agency. By putting ownership rights firmly in the hands of creators, the protocol upholds the principle that individuals should have the final say in how their content is used.
By shifting the power dynamics from centralized entities to the users themselves, the protocol redefines the very notion of social networking. With a decentralized social graph, users become active participants in shaping their online experience. Rather than relying on algorithms to identify and serve up the content they think will appeal to their users (intermixed with ads, of course), users who know how to leverage decentralized social architecture can reshape their experience based on their own preferences, circumventing the content that doesn’t appeal to them.
Perhaps most importantly, Lens Protocol’s emphasis on data ownership and privacy addresses the growing concerns around the exploitation of personal data. With the decentralized social graph, users take back control of their data, mitigating the risks of unauthorized access and manipulation and cultivating a sense of transparency and accountability in the social media ecosystem.
From a marketing perspective, this NFT-powered approach to content control has far-reaching implications and opportunities for brands and advertisers. While we aren’t seeing this type of decentralization in the current B2B marketing landscape, we are seeing demand for some of the benefits that Lens Protocol claims to provide—more personalization, more transparency, more privacy, and more user control.
Whether your brand is in the Web3 space and ready to leverage new technology to change the shape of social media marketing—or you’re working within the existing social media landscape—these new “demands” illustrate a more skeptical and discerning buyer.
What Lens Protocol Reveals for CEOs
No, we aren’t telling you to steer your social media marketing into web3 with a decentralized social graph—unless you are in a web3 or cryptocurrency-based industry (in which case, seriously, look into it). But for the majority of B2Bs, the biggest takeaway you should leave here with is that the public, and the content creators that influence them, are more discerning than ever.
The excitement around a decentralized social graph is based on a desire for more control, privacy, and transparency.
People want control over the content that enters their feed, they want privacy during social media engagement (hello, dark social), and they want a buyer experience that is free from “sleazy-used-car-salesman” techniques (for the record, we know plenty of really nice and trustworthy used car salespeople).
Need help targeting this ever-discerning modern buyer? We can help.
