There’s a lot of cool stuff that can be built with the data provided by Lens Protocol, but how can you start experimenting with Decentralized Social if you just want to use the platforms without worrying about the nerdy stuff behind the scenes?

Today, we’ll be learning the basics of using one of Lens Protocol’s premiere projects, Lenster. An easy to use and incredibly fun way to start playing around with web3 social!

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What is Lenster?

• How to follow people on Lenster.

• How to unfollow profiles on Lenster (and why it’s different).

In order to complete this task, you’ll need the following:

• A crypto wallet.

• The Polygon Network added to Metamask (or your wallet of choice).

If you want to learn more about decentralized social media and why it matters, here’s a link to our Learn Hub article on decentralized social media.

We went over what Lens Protocol is and why it matters in our guide on how to claim your own Lens profile. But just in case, here’s a quick refresher:

• What is Lens?: Lens Protocol allows you to carry your social information (such as follows, likes, comments and posts) across different web3 social platforms. Keeping you in control, and the algorithms at bay.

• What is Lenster?: It’s one of Lens Protocol’s pioneering social platforms. They use Lens data to build a twitter-like experience where you can share and collect posts, and follow your favorite communities.

Having clarified that, how about we learn how to join and follow your favorite communities/people on Lenster?

Lenster was one of the first platforms to appear that leverage Lens Protocol’s value. In it, you can experience what a vibrant twitter-like platform looks like. IPFS-stored interactions, communities for your favorite projects, and even the ability to collect your favorite posts!

Logging into Lenster is pretty easy once you’ve claimed your Lens profile:

1. Switch over to the Polygon Network on your wallet. If you haven’t already, you can add it via Chainlist.org.

2. Connect your wallet to the Lenster app.

3. Create your profile the same way you’d do so with traditional social media.

And just like that, you’re ready to start posting, collecting and joining communities on a web3 platform!

Following people on Lenster is pretty similar to doing it on twitter and other social platforms. You just find a profile you like, and hit the follow button.

The only difference here is that you’ll have to sign a transaction from your wallet to complete the process. After doing so, you’ll be greeted with a new NFT on your wallet signaling your support for the person or project. Try it out! Click here to follow RabbitHole’s Lens profile.

We recommend keeping these NFTs in your hidden folder on Opensea to keep your profile curated; they're offering you most of their value behind the scenes after all.

Note: *You can also follow your favorite profiles using a tool called LensFrens, it leads to the same result at the end of the day. For the purposes of this guide, we’re just focusing on doing so through Lenster.*

Unfollowing people on Lenster is a bit different to what you’re used to on traditional social media. Starting with the fact that you’ll be needing to spend a gas fee to do so. The reason for this lies in the fact that your follows are unique NFTs, and just like any other collectible you might have, you must burn it in order to get rid of it.

To do so, you just need to click the unfollow button and submit the transaction. Fortunately, the Polygon network is well known for its low gas fees, so you won’t be breaking the bank every time you wish to clean up your feed a little bit.

After reading this guide, you’re all set to start curating your feed, and following your favorite creators on Lenster. How about you learn how to collect their posts next?

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