Getting Started and Building on Web3 Social Graphs

Joining as a User

The first step in engaging with a Web3 social graph is to create an identity within the chosen protocol. For Farcaster, this begins with registering a Farcaster ID (FID) on Ethereum or a supported Layer 2 network such as Base. Registration can be done through Warpcast or other compatible clients, and requires a connected wallet. Once the FID is registered, it becomes the permanent reference for the user’s identity across all Farcaster-enabled applications. Technically, FIDs are anchored on Optimism. Base supports the Tier Registry and onboarding flows, but not FID issuance.

For Lens, participation starts by minting a Lens profile NFT on Polygon. Profiles are periodically made available through public or allowlisted registration processes. Owning a profile NFT grants full access to the protocol’s features, including posting, following, and collecting content. Because the NFT resides in the user’s wallet, it is under their full control and can be used in any Lens-compatible application without additional setup. Availability can be invite/allowlist-based, and as migration proceeds, profiles may reference Lens Chain rather than Polygon.

In both cases, after establishing an identity, the user can install or access client applications that interface with the protocol. Farcaster users might begin with Warpcast for its feature completeness, while Lens users may explore Hey.xyz for a general social feed or Orb for professional networking. The user experience will vary depending on the client, but the identity and social connections remain consistent across all of them.

Participating in the Ecosystem

Once onboarded, users can engage with the core social features of each protocol. In Farcaster, this includes creating casts, reacting to content, and following other users. Frames introduce additional interactive opportunities, such as claiming NFTs, interacting with decentralized finance applications, or participating in polls directly from the feed. Because the protocol is open, these interactive elements can be developed by any party and embedded within the broader network’s content flow. With Mini Apps, these in-feed interactions are expanding into richer app-like experiences.

In Lens, participation involves posting, commenting, mirroring content, and following other profiles. The collect feature adds an economic dimension, allowing users to purchase or otherwise obtain tokenized versions of posts. This not only supports creators but also creates a verifiable record of audience engagement on-chain. Communities built on Lens can integrate token gating, direct monetization, and cross-platform content distribution without requiring a centralized intermediary.

For both protocols, user engagement benefits from the open, interoperable nature of the underlying graph. Actions taken in one client are visible across others, and relationships persist no matter which application is used. This consistency fosters a sense of continuity that is often lacking in Web2 platforms, where each service maintains a separate, non-transferable record of activity and connections.

Building as a Developer

Developers approaching Farcaster have several entry points. The most direct is to use the protocol’s APIs and SDKs to read and write data to hubs. This enables the creation of new client applications, analytics tools, or specialized community interfaces. Developers can also run their own hub, which provides complete control over data storage, moderation policies, and synchronization. Frames offer another area for innovation, allowing developers to create interactive components that execute smart contract functions or off-chain processes directly in the social feed. Running a hub also gives control over moderation and retention; hubs sync via a peer-to-peer gossip network for redundancy.

For Lens, development typically begins with integrating the protocol’s GraphQL API or interacting directly with its smart contracts on Polygon. The modular architecture invites the creation of new interaction modules, such as custom follow or collect mechanisms, that can be adopted across the network. Because profiles and interactions are on-chain, developers can query historical data, build recommendation engines, or integrate Lens identities into unrelated Web3 applications. Momoka offers a path to scale-heavy interactions without incurring high on-chain costs, making it suitable for applications with frequent user activity. As Lens Chain rolls out, developers gain a social-optimized chain and can still rely on Momoka for DA/verification.

In both ecosystems, composability is a defining advantage. Developers are not restricted to building within the bounds of a single application or vertical. They can design tools that operate across multiple clients, integrate with other decentralized protocols, or connect social identity with entirely different categories of Web3 services such as gaming, decentralized finance, or digital art.

Looking Ahead

The future of Web3 social graphs will be shaped by a combination of technical innovation, governance evolution, and growing user adoption. As interoperability standards mature, it is likely that connections between separate social graphs will become more seamless, allowing relationships and content to flow across protocols like Farcaster, Lens, and others without requiring manual migration. This could enable a truly networked social layer for the decentralized web, in which users maintain a single, portable identity that interacts with many parallel ecosystems. Expect deeper cross-protocol identity mapping (e.g., FIDs ↔ Lens profile NFTs), stronger DID standardization, and shared reputation primitives.

From a governance perspective, both Farcaster and Lens are expected to transition toward more community-driven decision-making. Farcaster’s open-source foundation already allows external contributions to its codebase, and Lens operates with a proposal system that could broaden participation in protocol upgrades. These shifts may give users and developers greater influence over the rules and priorities of the networks they help sustain.

Economic models will also evolve. Lens’s collect system points toward a future in which monetization is native to the protocol, while Farcaster’s Frames demonstrate how interactive content can connect social activity to on-chain value flows. As adoption increases, both approaches could inspire hybrid models that blend creator monetization, community incentives, and protocol-level revenue sharing.

For developers and businesses, the opportunity lies in building services that leverage the permanence, portability, and openness of these social graphs. This could include cross-protocol identity management, decentralized recommendation algorithms, or integration with emerging sectors like decentralized autonomous organizations and metaverse platforms. For end users, the benefit will be an internet where their identity and social connections are not tied to a single corporate platform, but are assets they own and control across the web.