The Web3 social applications sector saw a remarkable 29% rise in Unique Active Wallets (UAW) in 2023. This is a 518% increase compared to 2022, highlighting the success of the category and the growing importance of decentralized social networks. These web3 social media platforms continue increasing, both in number and quality. In this article, we delve into the world of top social media dapps, shedding light on their appeal and user traction.
Table of Content
- Why Web3 social media dapps are in demand?
- How are Web3 social media applications outperforming traditional platforms?
- What are the best Web3 social media platforms?
- How do Web3 social media apps perform in terms of stats?
Why Web3 social media dapps are in demand?
According to our Dapp Industry Report 2023, the social sector has experienced a remarkable surge in 2023, with a daily UAW (Unique Active Wallets) count of 250,764.
On the other hand, large Web2 tech companies have become gatekeepers of online information, with their social media platforms taking up most of the users’ attention. However, the way these platforms operate is not without controversy.
A good example is the monopolistic social platforms, which tend to set the rules on how we should behave. If you don’t follow those rules or post against the official speech, they might mute, shadow-ban or kick you out.
What’s more, these companies often use tricky algorithms that create echo chambers, which can make it hard for us to find the whole truth.
The constant growth in Web3 social platforms showcase the growing importance of decentralized social media as a solution to the problems of traditional social platforms.
How are Web3 social media applications outperforming traditional platforms?
Web3 social media applications promise a new era in online interaction and engagement.
By addressing some of the shortcomings of traditional Web2 platforms, they offer users several compelling advantages:
Censorship resistance
In traditional social media, a central authority can easily restrict or remove content, but in Web3, it’s harder for anyone to do so.
Web3 social media apps resist censorship because they are built on a decentralized system.
This means no single authority or company has the power to control or silence what you say online.
Data transparency
In Web3 social media apps, data transparency is a priority. This means that users can see exactly how their data is collected, used, and shared.
This transparency builds trust because users know what’s happening with their information, unlike in traditional social media where data practices are often hidden.
Self-sovereignty
In traditional social media, users often have limited control over their data and identity.
Web3 social media apps empower users to be self-sovereign, which means they have control over their digital identity and data.
Users hold the keys (crypto keys) to their online presence and can make decisions about how their information is used.
New & fair business models
Web3 social media apps introduce new business models that benefit everyone involved.
Platform owners can reduce costs because they rely less on central infrastructure. Content creators are fairly rewarded for their contributions, and users can even earn special tokens for participating.
It’s a win-win-win situation that creates a more equitable ecosystem compared to traditional social media.
Now that you know the advantages of web3 social media, the next step is to take the plunge and start testing the best decentralized social apps.
What are the best Web3 social media platforms?
Navigating the world of Web3 and finding the right social media platforms can be a daunting task. However, you have the perfect partner by your side to make your journey easier and more informed.
DappRadar is your trusted ally, equipped with powerful rating tools that provide data-driven insights. Our goal is to empower users like you and help you evaluate Web3 projects effectively.
Whether you’re looking for the best and fastest growing projects or exploring new dapps with great potential, DappRadar has you covered.
Now, let’s dive into some of the hottest projects on DappRadar Social Ranking.
Friend.tech
Your network is your net worth. The marketplace for your friends
Friend.tech is a decentralized social media application built on the Base blockchain. In its two first weeks, the platform gained more than 100,000 users and generated around $25 million.
The platform enables users to engage in the trading of “shares” linked to accounts. These shares grant purchasers exclusive access to private chats with the respective individuals.
Notably, the price of these shares goes up when more people buy them, creating a supply-demand dynamic.
Despite technical issues and limited functionality that it had in its early days, the dapp’s popularity has increased due to its unique concept, financial incentives, and strong community engagement.
Galxe
Learn Web3 knowledge, find NFT deals, and more
Galxe is a collaborative credential infrastructure that explores ideas around Soulbound tokens and Web3 identity authentication. Simply put, it creates user profiles based on people’s blockchain actions.
Brands and projects can then use these Web3 digital credentials to promote their projects better, such as gamifying their loyalty systems, running marketing campaigns, acquiring users, and so on.
To end-users, they can participate in events and campaigns on Galxe to collect NFT badges. These medals will grant the user different rights and benefits.
Projects using Galxe for promotion come from all sorts of businesses, including Polygon, BNB Chain, CoinGecko, Project Twelve, and many more.
- Discover all you need to know about the platform in our Galxe’s in-depth guide.
Playbux
Turn your everyday activities into income
Built on BNB Chain and backed by Binance Labs, Playbux is a Web3 social platform that lets users earn tokens by doing everyday activities.
From shopping, playing games, or walking, to watching videos, trading and collecting stamps. All these actions are rewarded at Playbux.
Key highlights encompass its multi-chain capability and utilization of NFTs for asset ownership.
Additionally, it focuses on developing a metaverse for user engagement and gaming, while enabling users to shape the platform’s direction through governance using a DAO structure.
CyberConnect
Enjoy a customized social experience without sacrificing privacy
CyberConnect is a decentralized social graph protocol running on Ethereum, BNB Chain and Polygon. It provides developers with a rich set of tools to build plenty of Web3 social applications.
For example, developers can create blogging platforms where users can publish their content in NFT format on a chosen blockchain for monetization purposes. Or they can add crowdfunding features which let users monetize their creations.
Another example is a social platform for events, such as Meetup or Facebook Events. Link3 is one such platform, but with the help of CyberConnect, it implements many Web3 elements.
Also, users can truly own their social identities, content, and connections while using CyberConnect-backed social networks.
- Explore the project further by taking a closer look at our complete guide.
LunarCrush
Social intelligence for crypto, NFTs, and stocks
LunarCrush is a social listening engine that collects social and market data for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and stocks and distills it into actionable intelligence.
LunarCrush’s mission is to help users filter the noise on social media and identify value in an ever-changing marketplace. For example, the platform can tell users which projects are getting media exposure, which influencers are making an impact, and so on.
Let’s say we want to get a sense of Bitcoin’s social sentiment on LunarCrush. We can see how many times Bitcoin has been mentioned on social media, how engaging users are, and much more.
Moreover, users will receive LUNR tokens as a reward for participating in the platform and helping to improve its engine to provide more accurate information.
Lens Protocol
Your identity is yours to own
Lens Protocol is a composable, decentralized social graph on Polygon that empowers creators with full control of their content and data. With Lens Protocol, users own their profile, where they want to use it, how they want to use it, and even how they monetize it.
In addition to giving ownership of user data, Lens hopes to solve some of the problems of Web2 social media mentioned above, but in a community-driven approach.
It invites developers to innovate and develop healthy algorithms’ infrastructure that allows users to personalize their own feed and have choices.
The Lens ecosystem is constantly expanding, with more and more social media outlets choosing to serve their communities on it.
- Do you want to know more about the project? Read now DappRadar’s in-depth explanation on Lens Protocol.
Huddln
Engage community in a gamified way
First, Huddln is a mobile social media marketplace that lets users transform their existing content into NFTs.
Creators can leverage Huddln’s social-to-earn experience to encourage support from their community members.
In addition, similar to Galxe and LunarCrush, the Huddln XP agreement is designed to provide an efficient marketing tool for business. It offers projects and creators a simple way to track and incentivize users’ on-chain and off-chain behavior.
By calling Huddln’s API or smart contract, it lets the Huddln system know the users’ behavior, which will be analyzed and scored. Based on these scores, the project owner can reward users with airdrops and other benefits.
Steemit
Empowering content creators through blockchain
Steemit is a pioneer in the Web3 social media landscape, redefining how content creators and consumers interact with one another. Built on the Steem blockchain, Steemit allows users to publish, curate, and reward content in a decentralized manner.
The platform encourages engagement through a unique rewards’ system, where users can earn STEEM tokens based on the quality and popularity of their posts. This novel approach democratizes content creation and rewards both established and aspiring creators.
One of Steemit’s standout features is its commitment to transparency. All content and voting actions are recorded on the blockchain, ensuring that no centralized authority can manipulate or censor the platform.
As a user, you have the power to shape the content ecosystem on Steemit by curating and upvoting content you find valuable. This engagement not only influences content visibility but also contributes to the decentralized nature of the platform.
Chingari
Your creative hub on the blockchain
Chingari is a leading short-form video app and web3 social network that empowers creators to showcase their talent and connect with a global audience.
Operating on Solana, Chingari places content creation at the forefront, allowing users to express themselves freely and earn rewards for their creativity.
One of the key strengths of Chingari is its emphasis on multimedia content. Whether you’re a musician, artist, vlogger, or simply someone with a story to tell, Chingari provides the canvas for you to share your work in various formats, including videos, music, and more.
As a content creator, you have the opportunity to earn GARI tokens based on the engagement and popularity of your posts. This incentivizes users to produce high-quality, engaging content while enjoying the benefits of a decentralized platform.
Liketu
Where your likes have real value
Liketu is a photo sharing website built on the Hive blockchain. It allows creators to share photos and add pay-walls to premium images to only be viewed by users who have subscribed.
When you like a post or content, you are essentially endorsing it, and this endorsement comes with tangible rewards. Every like you give or receive contributes to your Liketu wallet, allowing you to earn crypto assets simply by engaging with content.
Liketu offers a wide range of content, from articles and images to videos and music. Creators across various niches find Liketu an ideal platform to share their work and connect with an audience that appreciates their content.
VIMM
Unleash your gaming and creative potential
Fueled by the Hive blockchain, VIMM is a Web3 video platform focused around live streaming.
Its focus is bringing together a thriving community of gamers, entertainers, and artists, crafting a distinctive realm of entertainment.
At VIMM, you can join the ranks of passionate gamers and creators, and immerse yourself in an environment where you can shape your channel, nurture your brand, and achieve success.
The platform provides all the essential tools and support for you to focus on the live game experience, creative content and collaborative art.
Post.Tech
Monetize your influence
Post.Tech is the next-gen SocialFi platform that seamlessly blends traditional social media with blockchain technology.
This groundbreaking platform envisions a new era for digital social interactions, creating an ecosystem where social engagement and financial transactions seamlessly merge together.
Post.tech introduces features like profile tokenization and post tokenization, which let you earn POST tokens from your social influence. Plus, it gives you real-time updates on cryptocurrency trends.
The platform is run by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), making decisions open and fair. They’re also planning to add NFT trading, DeFi services, and a cool social trading network, making the platform even better.
Mastodon
Your window to open-source social media
Created by Eugen Rochko in 2016, Mastodon is an open-source social media platform focussed on microblogging, similar to X (formerly Twitter), but with a twist.
Instead of a single overlord, Mastodon thrives on diversity. It’s composed of independent nodes, known as instances or servers, each with its own rules and policies.
Every user is part of a specific Mastodon server, yet they can seamlessly interact with users on other servers. Mastodon operates on the ActivityPub protocol, fitting into the Fediverse, a realm of services like Lemmy, Pixelfed, Friendica, and PeerTube.
Even if it’s decentralized, Mastodon is not considered a Web3 social media platform. The reason? It’s not using blockchain technology. However, it describes itself as a “federated network which operates in a similar way to email.”
Damus
The Bitcoin-friendly social app
Like Mastodon, Damus is another of the so-called “Twitter Killers”, but at the same time isn’t like the others.
It’s built on Nostr – a decentralized network that’s free from ads or tricky algorithms. Unlike some trendy startups, no bosses are making content decisions at Damus. You’re the boss. No bans, no censorship, and your data stays yours.
It has end-to-end encrypted messaging, so your DMs are truly private. No phone numbers or emails required to sign up, either. Damus uses decentralized relays to send messages, ensuring your words get through.
And it also includes a Web3 aspect, as it has Bitcoin’s Lightning Network integrated. This means you can send rewarding tips of a few sats to your friends or other content creators.
Bluesky
Your social network, your way
Bluesky, the brainchild of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is a decentralized, text-based microblogging app that gives users a taste of freedom in the world of social media.
Built on the open-source AT Protocol, Bluesky means transparency: anyone can peek under the hood to see how it’s built and what’s cooking in development. No central authority decides what flies and what doesn’t. You’re in charge of your feed and content moderation.
But there are some bumps on this decentralized road. Bluesky’s money-making plans are a bit hazy, and that raises questions about its future. It’s also still finding its feet, with occasional bugs and growing pains.
Despite some controversies and challenges, Bluesky’s community remains engaged and passionate. It’s a social experiment worth keeping an eye on.
How do Web3 social media apps perform in terms of stats?
Looking at the data tracked by DappRadar, Web3 Social had a nice rally in user activity by the end of 2023.
Zooming out to have an industry overview, we also find that unique active wallets (UAWs) in the social sector are outperforming other sectors such as exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) or collectibles (NFT).
The upward trend of decentralized social platforms regarding UAWs, especially during the end of 2023, is only surpassed by the gaming sector.
Although we cannot predict whether Web3 social media platforms will shake off the Web2 giants in the next few years, it is still exciting to see these trends emerging.
Also, it is unclear how long the current trends will last. But the consensus among users regarding data transparency, self-sovereignty, and an open network will undoubtedly continue.
