This post is taking part in the Farcaster 2026 writing contest
tl:dr
I see the ability to grow and create a new level playing field. This place has changed so much in the short time that I have been here, and I’m sure those who are celebrating their third year on this platform now can say even more to this expansion.
We are builders and innovators here; let us all help, since we are stronger together, working as one, than we are alone. The best way to help farcaster in this next phase, to give more agency and delegation to those communities outside the norm of the OG and dev’s current circle. Utilizing the current network, crafting a new narrative, unifying, and showing more than getting constant engagement from those years ago can lead to a fruitful network spreading out and growing more roots, planting seeds and sprouting even more users—genuine ones that keep coming back for the atmosphere here. We, the grassroots, are the best ways, avoiding that concept of the corporate overlords that we have all come to avoid and toxic situations.
We need to stop fighting with those who are looking to grow and build here. The way forward for warpcast is to unify. Yes, we are not dealing with at this time the concept of corporations, but you can equate the concepts and key points of what is happening in Read Write Own by Chris Dixon (mind you I have started listening to the audiobook a few months ago and am slow on the take, currently on Track 4 via Spotify)—while ruminating on this concept of Farcaster 2026 and my vision of what I have for this cutting-edge web3 society, delving past the roadblocks of web2 and utilizing the notion of becoming more ownership driven and transparent.
“Big tech platforms have more than just a home field advantage; they get to rewrite the entire game for their sole benefit,” says Chris Dixon in his book, things that we have seen here as well in this new age. Instead of writing the rules for all of us, they are taking it to their “home field,” thinking that we will just get complacent on the “comforts afforded by big tech,” yet here on this budding platform, here in its infancy, if those would listen or take stock outside of their OG cozy circle—where even it has been mentioned that Dan has to have notifications on for people—a better way must emerge to help foster a greater sense of unity.
When it comes to crypto, Chris Dixon speaks of a “casino” and a “computer.” The “casino” represents the loud side of trading and speculation, often leading to bankruptcy, while the “computer” is the more serious approach, fueled by long-term visions for a better network and better internet (communication). Paraphrased from his Read Write Own (Track 4 or 5), this is a strive for unity, where creating software is an art form. Give some power to the trusted masses. What do we want to do, and what is right for our future? This is a chance to take over the internet and give the people a voice. Next year, I see a more unified Warpcast, able to support and hear each other, taking over the future of web3.
Funny to say that those who came here to be avid builders beleaving that this is the way for us to take back ownership and shape the rules and way this next techological change will be. Find that they have to go to other places like Slack, Telegram, Discord, etc. to aid with sorting data within our own cohorts, to even fathom having a searchable and easily digestible conversation. Threads are difficult to navigate, having multiple convos with a group needs to be held outside of Warpcast, and yes, I am grateful that there have been many changes, yet lots of those I came here with and invited have gone back to older places and found this world to be very unkind.
Bringing us to the next point of onboarding and growing the farcaster network with “quality users”. When talking about handholding in the perfect world, this would be great. Farcaster is in a state to create or have others build these types of tools to help onboard and shepherd the newbies into the platform. I know when I started, I “ghosted” right away from a very sarcastic and offhanded remark of another user and decided that it wasn’t worth my time to even build here, since everywhere I went was red flags, walls, and pay-to-join groups that were free the day before. After learning, growing, coming back, and starting to get my feet back into the game, I was marked as a spammer and sent to the voided, shadowbanned world. I again tried to reach out since everywhere folks said, “Just reach out to Dan or V, they will help, their DMs are open.” To my dismay, those around me were not seeing my account, and firsthand I saw how visibility tanks—the user resources get pulled away, and the ability to talk to those in personal messages gets torn asunder. I kept feeling like I was going mad and wish that for no one on here. (For comparison, did Twitter or Reddit adopt specific newbie-friendly tactics? We can learn from such historical examples and consider how to avoid these pitfalls.)
If my journey shows me anything the OGs and thus the network in general would truly bennifit in growing their circle of trust and taking the time as well to interact and engage with these perceved smaller accounts, as well as the new accounts not personally onboarded by the “seeded group’s friends,” is the best way to showcase how this platform can continually evolve and change within the world of constant shifting. Sifting through the slop, utilizing the AI agents as tools, creating more transparent labels, and branching out the seeded trust circle since the only way forward is the ability to hear, work with, and find others outside of what you know to be true, to grow the network in and outside of what you thought was possible.
Yes, labels are needed. They should be visible, and categories would truly help bring more into this place. Is it a hybrid account, an AI agent, or just a bot? When you are in your own little circle, it’s easy to think that the rest of the platform is the same way and has all the beauty and visibility that you and your group does. Yet again, I implore those who seem to have it easy to take a step back, try and set up a new account without telling anyone about it, and see how the everyday user experience is. Or feel free to hire a team of casters under the radar that you trust, to help showcase and find these impediments and make this place more amicable for us all. This also addresses risks like spam, cliques, or losing the OG vibe, acknowledging that some OGs might resist changes. We can persuade them by showing how clarity, labeling, and transparent onboarding benefit everyone and foster real growth.
This historic status quo needs to change and shift from “One trend is undeniable: centralizing forces are drawing the internet inward, collecting power into the center of what was supposed to be [is supposed to be] a decentralized network. This inward turn is stifling innovation [growth recognition, the good content that is out there that is being undervalued and unseen outside of the hand-picked onboarded and curated friends or OG members of this network’s trust], making the internet less interesting, less dynamic, and less fair. To the extent that anyone recognizes a problem [which many of us do], they usually assume the only thing that might rein in existing giants is government regulation” by Chris Dixon. [I would have to say just expanding the current structure and expanding the trusted seed network is the way to do so on this front, allowing more growth and ability to showcase different cozy communities, expanding the abundance for all the users in this ever-growing and changing time].
The bubbles need to keep getting bigger and those who are seen as trusted accounts have more of a say in this system, creating transparency. Yes, the team is trying to show more and give back, yet it is still placating to those who are already large accounts and the weighted approval vs. overall value. Just to be seen from the latest attempts that thankfully Dan and V are working to change each week to stop gaming somehow. As it has been stated, most of those users were hand-onboarded by the seeded group of folks. When I see some of the content that is up on the board, it may be just telling me my personal tastes and way to engage building here are different than what is being recognized as “high value,” and others have been known to post stolen content for farming anything from this platform.
Again, this is my perception and take from constantly fighting this algo to break through. It is a never-ending push to be on all the time (not healthy) and thankfully being able to be seen ATM. Yet if it is this hard for me, and seeing so many others around leaving left and right, user retention seems low on the list, and appeasing the core group—ones that have been here and have large numbers behind their name—are of more value.
I still imagine a 2026 Farcaster where devs and artists can utilize their creativity and build together to create the changes that we are in desperate need of in this society. Showing that from all over in our diverse ways, we still have that common goal of creating a vision of the future that is inclusive, growth-oriented, and able to continue fostering the change, rippling out and creating the unity that we are all desperately seeking.
