All you need to know about Friend.tech, the Web3-based social media and how you can make money with it

Those conversant with trends in the crypto space can attest to the fact that the industry has been inundated with terms like ‘Friend.tech’ ‘keys’ ‘shares’ and ‘invite’ in the past month.

All the mentioned terms are related to Friend.tech, a platform that brands itself as “the marketplace for your friends.” In a little over a month, the network has already garnered substantial attention and interest from Web3 enthusiasts. 

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However, many still do not know what the app is, how it works and how it could be beneficial. This explainer details all these.

What is Friend.tech?

Ideated by X (Twitter) users oxRacerAlt and Shrimppepe, Friend.tech is a browser-based application launched on the Base Network,  an Ethereum scaling network by crypto exchange Coinbase. As a decentralised social platform, users of Friend.tech can buy and sell keys (known as shares previously). These keys are linked to X (formerly Twitter) accounts.

This is how it works. Those keys offer access to private in-app chat rooms and exclusive content from a particular X user. Also, every user on Friend.tech has a chat group similar to Telegram’s. The crux of the whole ceremony is that Friend.tech users must purchase keys in order to enter another user’s private chats. They can however decide to sell the keys if they decide to leave the chat.

With the way the network is structured, Friend.tech could be described as a more decentralised replica of Twitter (now X). The network takes some pre-existing features of X and adds some Web3 features like airdropped rewards, fee sharing, and others. 

To get started on Friend.tech, an invite code from existing users is needed. Each member of the platform currently is provided with three invite codes to give out. Visit the “Friends.tech” link from the browser on your phone. Note that iOS needs to be updated to the latest version. Once the link becomes live, look for the “share” button at the bottom of the screen and tap the “Add to Home Screen” shortcut. Open the icon on the home screen and input the invite code.

After the onboarding process, users would link Google and Twitter (X) accounts, and then bridge ETH from Arbitrum to the base wallet address. With this, buying and selling of keys and participating in private chats can commence.

Monetisation aspects 

On the decentralised network, a user is either a creator or a follower and the beautiful thing is that both parties can get returns. 

As a creator, you get people to buy your shares (now keys), which is a source of income. Also as a follower, you can purchase shares from creators and depending on how big the creator’s network grows, the share prices appreciate, which is good for them as a creator and you, a shareholder.

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The monetisation process revolves around the quality of the network a creator possesses. 

Lastly

Friend.tech possesses pros that have been mentioned. Apart from the monetisation aspect, another good thing about Friend.tech is that users need not install the app from the Play Store or the App Store. It simply works as an app without elaborate downloads and installs.

However, a handful of security and privacy concerns have cropped up. The first one stems from its X (Twitter) linking requirements. Questions are being raised about privacy and hack risks. Also, being a mobile-only network for now, it is being said that using Friend.tech through the phone might risk access to sensitive information by a third party.

Nevertheless, Friend.tech concept is cool. But considering the fact that many brilliant ideas have fizzled out quickly in the Web3 space, it will be interesting to see if Friend.tech adds new features that will make it more sustainable into the mix.