Post by @leosimon • Hey

What's Lens position about the fediverse ? 👀

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Great question. Fediverse won't scale simple as that. It works actually to something like Discord which is how Mastodon operates. Mastodon is even more challenging since if someone hosts a server and decides to take it down, there is going to be loss of content. We already see issue with the scaling with Bluesky as they are trying to scale the whole system to every users. The most effective way to have real decentralized social is by using blockchain for identities/profiles and even audiences and Data Availability layers for content (similarly what Momoka is doing). The scaling issue comes with the syncronization with all these servers or hubs (whatever you call them). With Momoka, all data goes to a one shared db. I think @ryanfox.lens had somewhere a good take on this as well. I personally would see Fediverse suitable for some kind of third party discord hosting than anything else for now in terms of use-cases. But underlying technology might change for apps, I did see Twitter dumping Ruby on Rails as it didn't scale for them either, while Twitter was the flagship for RoR.
Key differences: **Decentralization:** Fediverse - Server/Hub/Database layer Lens - User layer The Fediverse is trying to figure out how to decentralize control of the database. Many fiefdoms developing on separate timelines, sometimes unified, sometimes sovereign. The Lens design assumes everyone agrees on the database. It's a positive sum environment with everyone working in the same direction. Everyone adds value to the same structure no matter how small the contribution. Currently the Lens team assumes Polygon + Momoka is satisfactory to everyone using it. The Lens design could be replicated on other chains and private databases. It assumes the database is a solved problem. **Core Component:** Fediverse - Messages Lens - NFT Messages are structurally different than NFTs. Messages require broadcasting, syncing, redundancy, etc. They are limited in what they can do. Messages can be used to create a database, and that is something they are still struggling to actually solve. NFTs are data in a database. Anyone can Read/Write to the database at any time. No syncing, no broadcasting. Anyone can make use of/add value to the data. **Personal Example:** I roast coffee. I could build a coffee app that shows all the coffee I roast and give away to friends, and I could use Lens posts to store that data, either as open data or encrypted, free or charge for it. Anyone else could use that data for their own app, like a Coffee Rating app similar to Untappd for coffee, using Lens posts as the data. Because the core component of Lens is chunks of ownable data, rather than messages, it isn’t limited to Feed-based metrics and activities. It’s basically limitless because it’s bound to database-metrics and activities, and you can do anything with a database. **Metrics:** The Fediverse Messages require Feeds, Feeds require attention (Followers). Lens requires Users. This means you can build Lens communities which are measured by their actions/use of the data, rather than by Followers. You can measure Top Supporters, Top Collectors, Top Contributors, Top Collaborators, etc. It's not limited to "attention." Lens makes use of a database, and therefore it’s an additive experience. Any app in the world can add Lens to their existing database. The Fediverse can enable having Threads next to Instagram (feeds next to feeds). Lens can enable that plus something like Reddit karma in Twitter (actions next to anything).