Our t2 x Kiwi x Lens writing contest has ended.

Writers have looked at decentralized social from every angle. Why it hasn't taken off yet? What are its possible futures? What opportunities does it unlock? The contest gained a lot of attention in the summer crypto season and even got featured in the Bankless newsletter.

This attention resulted in a lot of writing activity. We received 21 submissions on Kiwi, and we calculated with t2 that their posts were read for over 20 hours! After over 160 votes have been cast by our Kiwi curators, we have the results.

But first, some good news.

We increased the prize pool

In our original contest, there was 1,200 USDC at stake.

The prizes were supposed to be distributed as follows:
1st place: 600 USDC
2nd place: 300 USDC
3rd place: 180 USDC
4th place: 120 USDC

When we started calculating the winners, we found that two posts on the 2nd place and two posts on the 3rd place received the same number of upvotes. We opened a discussion- should we calculate karma? Or maybe take into account who submitted first? Or maybe ask our most active users to decide? 

We spoke with the Lens team who sponsored the contest and… they decided to reward all winners. So they top up the prize pool to 1,680 USDC which means we will have one 1st place, two 2nd places, two 3rd places, and one 4th place.

Here are the TOP10 submissions

Below you can find the 10 most upvoted submissions. They don't start from the 10th place because we had a few posts receiving the same amount of upvotes.

6th place: “Philosophy for builders”
by ehcarpenter.eth (7 upvotes)

Edward Carpenter calls for applying John Rawls' "Veil of Ignorance" to web3 social. He claims it could prevent inequalities and ensure that all participants, regardless of their background or resources, have equal opportunities in web3 social ecosystem.

6th place: “The future of social networks won't be built by developers”
by jaack.eth (7 upvotes)

Jaack shows how philosophical and technological advancements change our society and identity. He highlights how blockchain's hard code reduces the need for traditional governance and enables a more decentralized society and identity.

5th place: “Curating and displaying your onchain identity”
By albiverse.eth (8 upvotes)

Albiverse discusses the potential of web3 social apps that allow users to create, curate, and share their digital identities using onchain assets like NFTs and attestations. They show how these apps could cater to fundamental human desires for identity expression, status, and belonging, similar to Myspace and Instagram but with a more provable and tangible digital identity.

5th place: “Meaning of Meaningfulness”
by m-j-r.eth (9 upvotes)

Mjr explores a tricky balance between fun and meaningfulness in social apps. Ultimately he suggests that decentralized networks must balance practical functionality with meaningful, engaging experiences to thrive.

[$] 4th place: “Enthusiasm is all you need”
by rileybeans.eth (10 upvotes)

Rileybeans reflects on the evolution of fandom and the potential for its integration into web3. She criticizes the financialization of communities in web3 and advocates for building decentralized social networks that prioritize meaningful connections and narratives over profit.

[$] 3rd place: “Katabasis Chronicles Part 1”
by theblockchainsocialist.eth (12 upvotes)

Blockchain Socialist and Beth McCarthy write a short story, taking place in 2140 Brussels at EthCC. In the background of the main plot, they explore how the future of different technologies might look.

[$] 3rd place: “Why build a web3 social app”
by zinkk.eth (12 upvotes)

Zinkk discusses the slow adoption of web3 social apps, attributing it to high switching costs, lack of compelling value over web2, and technical challenges like spam, speculation, abuse, and privacy issues. He also shows how the app could combat these new problems.

[$] 2nd place: “What Can Be Created Based on Decentralized Social Networks”
by ameliehua.eth (14 upvotes)

Amelie essay shifts from thinking about what social applications decentralization can bring to what products can be built on decentralized networks. She explores key components of such networks like decentralized data, relationships, and identities.

[$] 2nd place: "Bridging Onchainomics with Decentralised Social: a Social Platform, or an Emerging Re-globalisation Society?"
by 183aaros.eth (14 upvotes)

183Aaros explores the subject of onchainomics, and looks at decentralized social beyond just apps. He looks at gas fees, DeFi services, on-chain content consumption, and token utility payments as forms of on-chain consumption, emphasizing the challenges posed by the absence of inelastic goods and services, and its impact on society.

[$] 1st place: “On the Decentralized Social Networks—A Useless Box, or an Emergence?”
by gokhan.eth (21 upvotes)

Gokhan critiques the current state of decentralized social networks, offering a raw perspective on the shortcomings and potential improvements needed in this space. He calls for a reevaluation of how decentralized social networks are conceptualized, built, and marketed, emphasizing the need for maturity and authenticity in their development and promotion.

Final results

So the results are as follows:

1st place: Gokhan.eth (600 USDC)
2nd place: 183aaros.eth & ameliehua.eth (300 USDC each)
3rd place: zinkk.eth & theblockchainsocialist.eth (180 USDC each)
4th place: rileybeans.eth (120 USDC)

Thanks to all the participants for writing and sending your submissions!

These were the top10 posts, but you can read all of them here. If you won, please DM @macbudkowski on Telegram to learn about the next steps.

And if you would like to learn more about Kiwi, you can dig in here.