What is Farcaster?
Farcaster is a "sufficiently decentralized" social network.
The "sufficiently" part comes into the basic architecture of Farcaster as it uses both on and off-chain data.
Your identity on the platform is stored on-chain in an Ethereum smart contract. This offers the full security and consistency of Ethereum. you're able to link an Ethereum address with your Farcaster ID.
Farcaster uses that ID to sign off-chain messages. these messages are stored in user-controlled servers called Farcaster hubs.
Data is not stored on chain because it would be extremely expensive and slow.
What problem does Farcaster solve?
Social media platforms changed lives for everyone.
Users found it easy to stay in touch and up-to-date with their friends.
Entrepreneurs found a great way to get their brand name out in front of others, or even a viable business model by building apps related to social networks.
Established brands were given a wonderful way to more effectively communicate with their users and customers.
But as time has gone by, the exciting world of social media has stagnated.
At the beginning, countless developers and entrepreneurs flocked to these platforms to help them build their ecosystem and add value they missed.
but as time has gone by, the platforms have asserted their control, making it difficult for others to get involved and assist in their growth.
They've also built systems and processes that allow them to close accounts, ban huge swathes of people, or simply close off access if they deem it necessary and without any prior notice.
The result is an industry lacking in new, meaningful developments and trust.
Farcaster is hoping to solve that problem.
Farcaster is a "sufficiently decentralized" social network that uses both an and off-chain methods to ensure both security and ease of use.
They define the "sufficiently decentralized" as a network where two people can communicate, even if the network doesn't want them to.
In addition to giving users this freedom, Farcaster offers more freedom to developers. Developers have full access to the ecosystem allowing them to build on the core level of Farcaster.
This could be the future of decentralized social networks.
How to get started with Farcaster
How to get a Farcaster invite
Right now Farcaster is invite only.
The best way to be notified when new invites are ready is to follow the Founder, Dan Romero. Every so often he tweets out a notice like the below asing people to DM him for invites.
Once you have an invite, you'll be able to download the app to your Mac or iOS device.
The setup wizard is very quick and simple.
Once set up, be sure to link your ETH wallet to your account.
Farcaster contact
You can contact the Farcaster team through their website, or through one of the below channels.
