One of the core benefits of web3 is the idea that we can own our data and content as we navigate the internet and nowhere is that more important than social media.

Think about this for a second. You don’t own your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even LinkedIn profile. And you certainly don’t own the content created by and associated with that profile. It’s the centralized company that owns your profile and any content you create and followers you amass. Consider the fact that you can’t take your followers with you from one platform to the next for instance. In reality we’re just renting our profiles and letting the platforms monetize our content.

Web3 fixes this! The solution is decentralized social media. In this version of social media, the centralized platform is replaced with an open protocol. Additionally, your profile is actually an NFT that you own and can move from app to app. This is probably not what you think of when you hear “NFT” but it’s one of the most important use cases and I hint at others to come.

Lens protocol has pioneered this idea by creating the open protocol that developers can now build on. People can mint (the process of creating an NFT) a profile on Lens and then they can use that profile across the apps being built on top of Lens.

Imagine a world where you could plug your profile into various social media apps and move between those apps freely. The apps no longer have the control. Instead, they have to compete for users' time and attention by adding useful features and they know they don’t have a captive audience.

So far there are 6 apps (see image below) that have been built on Lens and many many more on the way. For now, minting a Lens profile is by invite only but keep an eye out for a more general release and in the meantime I encourage you to explore the platform and learn more about this important new trend.