In a busy period since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, the tech billionaire has… Exodus Prominent users and advertisers from the site joined in protesting the new policy.
But on Monday, Musk expressed genuine interest in the waning presence on the platform of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, one of the crypto world's most influential thought leaders. It seemed like that.
“Why did he leave?” Musk Asked He responded on Twitter to a post lamenting Buterin's increasingly sporadic use of social media sites.
This comment received multiple replies from crypto users speculating that the move was due to increased bot activity or lack of platform functionality. On-chain functionality.
But look no further than Buterin's comment a few days ago: ETH Taipei Ask about this to get answers. Cryptocurrency developers find people on Twitter (including Musk?) downright frustrating.
Asked about his reduced reliance on social networks, Buterin said: “Twitter is a place for all people, but it's also a place for really annoying people.”
Buterin has been spending a lot of his time lately posting on Farcaster, a decentralized social media protocol that has skyrocketed in popularity as an alternative to Twitter. early this year.
Back on Twitter, cryptocurrency users complained that Buterin had become a “quarantine” by choosing Farcaster over Twitter.[ing] Rather than meeting with the masses, you spend time on the island with your chosen group of friends.
But in Taipei, Buterin pushed back against such arguments.
“The engagement you get there is actually higher quality,” the Ethereum co-founder said of Farcaster.
Buterin also denied claims that by using Farcaster he isolated himself in a bubble with other crypto enthusiasts.
“I think it's made it accessible to people who aren't interested in cryptocurrencies in a way that hasn't been available to many other applications to date,” he said. “I think this is an important success for other companies as well.” [decentralized] The application attempts to replicate. ”
Founded in 2020, Farcaster was relatively unknown until late January, when a new feature appeared in the protocol. called a frame that This allows users to perform on-chain and off-chain functions (such as minting NFTs, playing games, and purchasing) within the Farcaster app without accessing a third party.
Since the Frames spike, Farcaster usage has remained fairly stable, with data showing just over 1.5 million posts per week on the protocol. dunes.
However, decentralized media still has a long way to go. These numbers certainly pale in comparison to Twitter, which has hundreds of millions of posts per day. Elon Musk.
When Vitalik Buterin addressed a room full of reporters in Taipei late last week, he asked the group if anyone planned to post. story It came from a session at Farcaster before I tweeted it.
“You should,” Buterin said. “Come on, we’re a decentralized space, so we need to use our own!”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
