Farcaster just launched Channels and it could be a watershed moment for the internet.
This post is adapted from a screenshot essay I wrote this past weekend and posted on Farcaster
Farcaster just launched (permissionless) Channels - which you can think of as a public, collaborative, Twitter-like feed (typically organized around a topic) that anybody can create and people can follow, engage, and post in.
It’s obviously not a fully new concept, but I think Farcaster’s design has some extremely compelling pieces that appeal especially to the Creator in me.
The energy in the community is palpable right now -
Granted - this probably isn’t a watershed moment for the internet…
But seriously I think it has the potential to be if a few things go right.
Before we dive in:
Dan (Founder of Farcaster and John Krasinksi stunt double) is pretty clear that they’re still experimenting with how Channels should work right now.
Everything is in the client not the protocol right now - so channels work more or less the same as a subreddits on Reddit.
If the previous sentence means nothing to you, just ignore it. It’s not critical to what I’m about to say 🫡
Channels Channels Channels
I think permissionless Channels are an incredible content experiment.
To be completely honest, I wasn't sold at first.
I was frustrated (as an early Farcaster user) that it felt like a departure from the "Twitter, but decentralized" vision I joined for, I was bummed that Merkle didn't want to enshrine Followers in the protocol (amps anyone?), and I thought they didn't pay enough attention to the Creators that make the excellent content that all the Lurkers want.
But it hit me like a sack of bricks last night that Channels offer Creators a brand new content MEDIUM that doesn't really exist elsewhere.
A Twitter account follow CAN'T compete with a co-created feed of culture/jokes/memes between a personality and their community because Twitter's algo isn't concentrated enough to keep people clustered together for sustained community, a Telegram channel has zero distribution, but a subreddit requires waaaaay too much work and effort to keep fresh.
Channels neatly sidestep the concentration, distribution, AND upkeep problem.
I’ll take it even further...
The inherent flexibility of channels ALSO means that orgs like Seemore (my startup) can create channels as a service for Creators so there's a quasi-permanent stream of their content always flowing directly to their fans too.
Plus the content doesn't need to be stored on the blockchain (although that's nice to have as “cancel insurance” later).
The pointer to the content is enough to be genuinely valuable today.
I'm a channel Maxi now so keep an eye out for experiments from me + Seemore.
And y’all know that I like to call my shots as I’m swinging - so you can follow my own channel experiment right here 🫡
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