This post is taking part in the Farcaster 2026 writing contest organized by Kiwi News & sponsored by Purple DAO

How can Farcaster amp up its marketing and growth activities to acquire new users?

A lot has happened since this prompt was offered by the contest in the middle of January! This past week alone would require a rewrite of the answer.

I want to suggest that there isn’t an exact script, but the roadmap is wrapped up in people, story, and onboarding.

Farcaster Growth Is About People

The future of Farcaster is about people, more than DAUs and value props. I say that with no disdain for metrics and those terms. They are needed and useful.

But think for a moment: if you wanted to capture the energy of Farcaster right now and share it with a friend how would you do it?

“Check this out, I’m on a new social app and the DAUs are rising and people are resonating with the new value prop?”

That example is a bit tongue-in-cheek. You would, of course, say, “You have to see this app where an Olympic athlete is sponsoring her training and documenting her journey to LA just by creating content and building an audience.”

Or you’d say, “I’m on this social app filled with smart, amazing builders who are helping each other learn and build the new internet economy that will change how we do things.”

So, the challenge for Farcaster growth is finding the next 10 @afrochicks, @ted, @burrrrrberry, @hankmoody, @tldr, & @ceej. Granted these are all one-of-a-kind people, but you get the idea.

So, let’s be clear I’m not arguing against DAUs and metrics. I'm reminding us that those metrics represent people. I’m suggesting that the conversation about growth needs to remember that 'growth' has a face.

Farcaster Growth Is About Story

Story is a buzzword, but that doesn’t make it less important. And 'story' is not just about telling stories—though that’s part of it. It’s about using story as a style of communication that resonates with people. Different parts of the brain light up and different chemicals are released in the body when a person connects to a story.

For Farcaster, that means telling stories like those mentioned above and twenty others. But it also means telling the Farcaster story in a way that resonates with people. Here I would suggest—again with no disdain or complaint—that this is more than a value prop. We need a great value prop, but it needs to serve as an opening to the Farcaster story.

There’s been a lot of discussion and interaction about the Farcaster value prop and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and profited from it. The current version is ‘make money, and then friends on Farcaster.’ When @garrett asked about the value prop a month ago, I went more in the direction of the Farcaster story. My first draft was:

"Find your home in the new onchain economy. Whether you are building, learning, or supporting the new onchain world, Farcaster is your place to create and experience the next phase of the internet with people on the same mission."

I’m not suggesting that this is the Farcaster story—we all need to work on what the story is—but my first run at it brings in the style of story that makes the prospective member the hero, the community the ‘friends & allies,’ and Farcaster the ‘guide.’ I’m using terms from the ‘Hero’s Journey’—a universal story with elements that are present in all great stories.

What I appreciate about the current value prop is that it also does those things in a shorter form, but I hope it will open the door to a more fully developed story that people love.

Farcaster Growth Is About Onboarding

Some of the most notable growth on Farcaster has come from people spending a little extra time to help people find their way. This week we saw @afrochicks post about her reaching out to @ted and the call that kept her here and we’ve seen many other stories from /live-the-same and other casts.

If we are going to reach out and bring people to this crazy purple world then we need a band of friendly, engaging, and patient Farcasters ready to encourage and help. We can probably all think of those people--we need 50 of them. We need them to know they are on call and we need newcomers to know where to find them. I’ve wondered if like the rewards for great engagement, we could have a leaderboard for great onboarding, help, and encouragement. I realize the algo can’t automatically detect it, but the sentiment remains. Maybe we need to select 50 people, put them on a weekly retainer, and budget it like we do for Rewards.

I don’t have all the answers but I would like to further the conversation. The recent steps taken by Dan and Merkle are incredibly exciting for the future. With the right people, the right story, and the right onboarding 1 billion people using Farcaster isn’t as crazy as we think it sounds now.