SocialFi has failed to take off — Here’s what needs to change
SocialFi’s struggle to succeed stems from technical hurdles, user experience barriers, and fragmentation. It needs purpose-built infrastructure, seamless user experiences, and innovative social networking models.
Opinion by: Anurag Arjun, co-founder of Avail
On paper, SocialFi is a no-brainer. It promises to shift the balance of power in social media — giving people control over how their content and personal data are used and monetized. It even offers users a stake in the $200+ billion social media advertising market, a pie currently devoured almost entirely by giants like Meta.
And yet, SocialFi platforms today feel more like digital ghost towns than the bustling hubs of Web2. Friend.tech, hailed as a breakout star in 2023, peaked at just 80,000 daily active users before falling below 10,000. What’s holding SocialFi back? Why does it seem to be following Friend.tech’s fade into obscurity rather than rising to rival Facebook’s dominance?
