The original question Dan was replying to was, why has growth of new users slowed for Farcaster? Dan argues that Warpcast's slowing user growth and retention is due to a lack of diverse and engaging content across different interest areas. Ted added nuance to this position, which Dan agreed with.
Farcaster is full of amazing content in one niche vertical: crypto, which happens to be a vertical I'm very interested in. Outside of that, we have some great channels like /gardening and /cooking, but they don’t necessarily contain content you couldn’t find on other networks. We can break the problem into three core areas that are affecting Farcaster's ability to grow:
Not enough interest verticals outside of crypto (and in some cases, even within it).
Not enough key opinion leaders (KOLs), or an inability to create new KOLs for the interest verticals on the network.
Not enough content that isn’t available—often better—elsewhere.
The solution to this problem will likely come from Product-Led Growth (PLG), where product improvements directly drive user acquisition and retention, in partnership with third-party developers and community leaders. Much of the promise around Warpcast in 2024 is the developer "lego blocks" that allow you to build things that aren’t possible on other networks. While new "legos" are being introduced, we should look for some combination of Frames (with Transactions), Composer Actions, and Cast Actions to create a community experience that can’t be found elsewhere. For example, if you’re an F1 fan, there’s already great content on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. So, what kind of solution can be created on Warpcast that is truly differentiated? How can Composer Actions enhance your posts? Imagine Composer Actions including race positioning or a gif of the moment you’re commenting on, Frames allowing in-race wagers, or Cast Actions signaling a vote for inclusion in the upcoming newsletter.
What if you could subscribe with a credit card or Apple Pay to a community’s Hypersub and, for $5 a month, have posting permissions in the channel, with 100% of the proceeds split among the channel's top content contributors via Rounds.wtf?
We also need better tools to allow developers to sign up users to Farcaster—whether at full price, subsidized, or completely free. Imagine a tool that marketing and community managers could embed behind a Telegram chat or custom landing page, or one that app developers could integrate with a simple “Sign Up for Farcaster” button.
It should also be easy to give communities their own native app that includes only their channels. Kiosk proves that consumer-grade internet client experiences can be made as high-quality native apps. Imagine downloading "RaceFi" from the App Store, signing up, and immediately seeing F1 content in one tab and community mints in another. You could make a $5 in-app purchase to subscribe to the Hypersub, start earning by posting content, and use your earnings to place in-race wagers through a custom frame. This is the kind of vertical-specific experience that could differentiate Farcaster communities.
What if there were even simpler solutions? Tools that allow non-technical community leaders to onboard entire communities via a WYSIWYG landing page builder, with signups sponsored by third-party organizations, could make a huge impact.
Purple is a decentralized organization with limited operational capacity, best understood as a decentralized grant program. Teams apply for grants, we approve them, and they are responsible for the delivery and execution. You do not need to be a member of Purple to apply for a grant. I’d love to see Purple fund experiments that focus on onboarding more interesting content to Farcaster. We have a 38 ETH treasury, and what better way to use it than addressing the highest priority issue in the Farcaster ecosystem: content diversification and user retention. We also have many friends who want to see us and Farcaster succeed, and they can lead successful projects to additional funding. These experiments should be grounded in real metrics—how many of your onboarded users are retained after 7, 30, or 90 days?
Purple is ready for your Content Onboarding Experiments. The ecosystem will need to take many shots on goal—let Purple help accelerate the number of attempts.
Farcaster's growth challenge isn’t going to solve itself, but you can play a part. Don’t wait—if you have a plan, DM me and let’s discuss how to make it happen. If you’re still developing your ideas, join channels like /growth or /product to connect with others and start brainstorming. The sooner we collaborate, the faster we can unlock the platform's potential. Form a group chat, share your thoughts, and start taking action.
Are you interested in building some of the software that could be required? I’ve outlined several software-related objectives in this post, and there are many more. I would love to fund Composer Actions that help people create better content and libraries that make it easy for any app to sign up a Farcaster user. If you have a credible plan for building something great, lets get a prop up to fund your development!
Farcaster's growth challenge won’t be solved by one initiative alone, but together, we can support the experiments that lead to real impact. Let’s work side by side, explore creative solutions, and build the tools needed to foster a more engaging and diverse community on Farcaster.