Decentralized Social Graph Protocol Lens Enters Permissionless Stage

Reported by The Block, social graph Lens has moved to a "permissionless" stage, now enabling all users to participate in the network by creating an on-chain NFT for their profile.

This change allows anyone to create their profiles for a fee of 10 matic tokens (currently valued at $10.30) or to pay a similar amount with a credit card, facilitating their entry into the platform. Lens debuted in May 2022 on the Polygon blockchain.

Lens is described as a social graph, which refers to a decentralized and user-owned map of connections and relationships between individuals and entities. NFTs that serve as user profiles allow users to interact with decentralized applications (dapps) within its ecosystem.

Now, any user can mint a Lens profile and access the protocol, whereas previously, profile creation was restricted to selected users.

This comes amid an increasingly competitive landscape of decentralized social media, where multiple platforms are vying for user engagement. Lens, in particular, faces heated competition with Farcaster, another key player in the decentralized social media space.

Despite Farcaster's shift to a permissionless model in October 2023 after its introduction on Optimism, Lens's move towards a similar approach has been more gradual, especially given its initial launch in 2022.