The recent leadership transitions at Farcaster and Lens Protocol have reignited debate about the future of crypto social media.
While critics argue that these changes prove decentralized social networks have failed, they actually reflect a necessary market correction in Web3 social.
The first wave of crypto social platforms struggled not because decentralization is flawed, but because product-market fit was missing.
Social networks do not scale like blockchains, and simply launching an open protocol does not guarantee network effects or mainstream adoption.
Decentralized platforms like Mastodon and Nostr have existed for years without breaking into the mainstream.
Crypto social media is evolving beyond early assumptions, focusing on onchain coordination, digital ownership, and incentive-aligned communities.