Friend.tech, the latest decentralized social media platform in the crypto space, is facing criticism for its decision to penalize users who switch to forked or copycat versions of its tokenized social media platform.
The official Friend.tech X account tweeted on August 28 that users who switch to forks or copies of the platform will be excluded from earning and forfeit existing reward points during the testing phase. Although Friend.tech did not name any specific competitors, some users pointed out a potential rival called Shares, also referred to as "SocialFi," which is set to enter public beta on August 31.
Friend.tech is currently distributing "reward points" to beta testers on a weekly basis, with a total of 100 million points planned to be distributed over six months. The purpose of these credits hasn't been fully disclosed, but the team has hinted at special uses upon the platform's general release. Speculation includes the possibility of converting these points into a token for governance or for various financial incentives.
This decision by Friend.tech sparked backlash from the crypto community, receiving hundreds of negative comments and retweets within hours of the announcement. Critics argue that penalizing users for trying out other platforms contradicts the principles of the cryptocurrency industry and Web3.
Facing this criticism, Friend.tech's pseudonymous founder "Racer" posted an apology on August 29, reversing the initial decision and acknowledging it as a "stupid statement" driven by concerns of potential competition.
This incident occurred less than three weeks after Friend.tech's public release on August 11. Additionally, the platform has experienced a decline in key metrics like activity, inflows, and transaction volume over the past few days, according to Dune Analytics data .
