The rollout of dSocial represents a significant milestone for decentralized and distributed applications. The new social network is the first major application to take advantage of several powerful technologies that are part of the new decentralized web known as the dWeb. dSocial is the culmination of a years-long effort to bring the benefits of decentralized and distributed applications to the masses. The new social network is paired with a powerful messaging application, called dMessenger, that enables secure text and voice communications between users of dSocial.
dSocial is an open source social network designed with the goal of providing users, regardless of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation, a censorship-free social network where they can share and exchange information. Over the past several years, members of certain groups, including conservatives, libertarians and free speech advocates, have faced increased pressure on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. These social networks have gone to great lengths and used a variety of tactics to silence certain groups, including the use of fact-checking disclaimers on posts, to suspending and even cancelling the accounts of some users. The use of these tactics, commonly associated with the left and cancel culture, peaked during the most recent election cycle. And there’s evidence to suggest that these tactics heavily swayed key elections in favor of Democrats, including Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden.
In recent times, there have been notable attempts to create social networks free of the bias and discrimination we’ve seen from companies like Facebook and Twitter. As it relates to these two social network behemoths, it’s worth mentioning that they, along with a handful of other large tech companies, make up a powerful consortium commonly referred to as “big tech.” Big tech wields incredible influence in places like Washington, D.C. and Wall Street, and within the highly regulated industries of banking, finance and telecommunications. This influence can present formidable challenges for small tech companies looking to enter the social network space. Look no further than Parler, whose entire platform was dismantled through the coordinated efforts of Apple, Google and Amazon, or Gab, whose platform has faced constant pressure from payment processors and domain registrars. Creating a censorship-free social network in the day and age of big tech is no small undertaking. The current situation is such that conservatives, libertarians and free speech advocates face the impossible choice of either conforming with the arcane content policies of big tech or foregoing the use of social media altogether.
Millions of users have been impacted by the actions of big tech, including countless numbers of conservatives and libertarians who have had to jump from one social network to another in hopes of finding a reliable solution. But whether Gab, Parler or some other fly-by-night alternative, these social networks all suffer from the same common design flaw: they depend on services, systems and platforms controlled by big tech. More often than not, it’s this dependence that cripples these social networks, affecting their ability to accept credit card payments, host their applications, and maintain their domain names and IP addresses. And due to big tech’s strong connections with the left, conservatives and libertarians, who have found a temporary home on social networks like Gab and Parler, face the unnerving possibility that their accounts and data could be deleted at any moment. It is for these same reasons that we have spent the better part of three years building dSocial around exciting technologies like distributed hash tables (DHTs) and blockchain. Technologies, we’d like to add, that fall outside the control of big tech and their friends in Washington, D.C.
By now, most people have heard of Bitcoin, the popular digital currency that has been in the news due to its meteoric rise in value. What most people don’t realize, however, is that Bitcoin is powered by a sophisticated blockchain that is maintained by a network of computers known as “miners.” These miners are responsible for the tasks of minting new Bitcoin and verifying transactions between holders of Bitcoin. The most important aspect about Bitcoin, and in all likelihood the reason for its sudden increase in value and popularity, is the fact that Bitcoin is completely decentralized. What this means is that in the case of Bitcoin, the blockchain that powers the network is not controlled by any singular entity or group. Anyone is free to install the Bitcoin software and put forth their computer as a miner for the blockchain, or to acquire Bitcoin and use it for all manner of financial transactions. In this way, the Bitcoin network is maintained by a diverse community whose common goal is the proper functioning of the Bitcoin blockchain and the unrestricted ecosystem it provides.
dSocial utilizes blockchain in a manner similar to that of Bitcoin. Although, in the case of dSocial, the blockchain is maintained by what are known as “block producers” instead of miners. These block producers are voted on and elected by the dSocial community. Note: block producers are actually elected by the entire dWeb community, not just the users of dSocial. That being said, for the purposes of this article you can think of them as one in the same. Moving on, as with Bitcoin, anyone can download the blockchain software that powers dSocial and put forth their own computer as a block producer candidate. However, with dSocial, in order to become a block producer, the candidate must be voted on and elected by the dSocial community. This important distinction is what enables the dSocial blockchain to do much more than simply verify transactions and add blocks to the chain itself. Block producers, of which there are 21 elected at any time, can vote to do important things like reverse fraudulent transactions and remove illegal content from the network. These unique capabilities are what make the blockchain behind dSocial ideal for powering a completely decentralized social network, albeit one with built-in safeguards for protecting users and the overall integrity of the network.
The blockchain behind dSocial also provides a more secure experience when it comes to user data and privacy. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Gab and Parler, rely on centralized servers to host their applications. These servers can be compromised by hackers, who can then expose sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, phone numbers and even credit card numbers. The blockchain behind dSocial, on the other hand, cannot be compromised or altered by hackers in any way. dSocial also incorporates advanced cryptography to secure everything you do on the social network with a digital signature. This digital signature is generated by a special private key secured on your device. By applying this digital signature to things like posts and comments, other users can be sure that it was you, and only you, who created the post or comment, or performed some other action on dSocial. And should you ever want to change or remove your information from dSocial, only you can do so because only you have access to the special key secured on your device. As you can see, by combining blockchain with the magic of cryptography, dSocial provides users vastly improved security while keeping them in control of their data at all times.
As beneficial as these enhancements to security and privacy are for end users, dSocial represents more than blockchain and cryptography. dSocial is about delivering a faster user experience, one that exceeds the best efforts of Facebook, Twitter, Parler and Gab. To deliver this kind of speed and performance, dSocial utilizes a bevy of decentralized and distributed technologies that are part of the exciting new web known as the dWeb. These technologies work together to create a powerful distributed network of peers, one in which the resources needed to provide things like decentralized network addresses and web hosting, are powered by the network of peers themselves. If this sounds a little complex for you to understand, don’t worry. Everything is coordinated by the technologies of the dWeb and happens seamlessly behind the scenes. But suffice to say, when paired with the enhanced security of blockchain and cryptography, these technologies enable dSocial to deliver content faster than centralized social networks like Facebook and Twitter, while keeping users and their sensitive information safe from hackers.
To help you better understand the way in which these technologies work together to provide a faster and more secure user experience, we’re going to run through a basic example of what happens when someone creates a post on dSocial. Let’s imagine for a moment that a person named Joe creates a post that says “I love my dog Fido!” and includes a video of Fido playing at the park. The post is immediately sent to the blockchain where the block producers work together to verify the post’s digital signature, in this case Joe’s. The block producers verify the post’s digital signature by using something called elliptic curve cryptography, which is a fancy way of saying, with mathematical certainty, that the post’s digital signature was created using Joe’s special private key. If you recall, the special private key we’re talking about is the same key, secured on Joe’s device. This verification process gives other users of dSocial the confidence to know that it was Joe, and only Joe, who created the post about FIDO. Rest assured, this verification process, which as it relates to dSocial, is known as consensus, is completely automated and happens within the blink of an eye. As exciting as this part of the process is, however, the fun really begins when the other users of dSocial begin viewing Joe’s post.
As we’ve shown in our basic example, blockchains are well suited to the task of verifying and storing small pieces of information, such as the text, links, and hashtags from Joe’s post about Fido. What blockchains aren’t particularly well suited for, however, is the task of storing large pieces of information, such as the data for audio files and pictures, or in the case of Joe’s post, the video of Fido playing at the park. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Gab and Parler, use centralized servers to host their applications and the data from users. As such, if you were to view Joe’s post using a social network like Twitter, you would download all the data and information relating to Joe’s post, including the videos of Fido, from Twitter’s servers. dSocial handles this task quite differently.
dSocial uses several decentralized and distributed technologies to offload the tasks of file storage and content delivery to the users of dSocial and their devices. Continuing our example, when Joe created his post, the small pieces of information, such as text, links and hashtags, were all stored on the blockchain. Along with this information, there was also a special link corresponding to Joe’s video of Fido playing at the park. When other users of dSocial view Joe’s post, they automatically download the video of Fido using this special link. In the case of dSocial, this special link is actually a dWeb network address, and one that is decentralized and distributed across a vast network of devices, including those connected to dSocial.
When Joe created his post, the special link corresponding to the video of Fido was automatically created and shared across the network of devices connected to dSocial. When another user views Joe’s post, their device automatically becomes another host for the video of Fido. In this way, each subsequent user who views Joe’s post becomes an additional host from which others can download the video of Fido. We’d like to point out that the process we’ve just described is conducted solely by the users of dSocial and their devices, and importantly, does not incorporate the use of centralized servers. This peer-driven distribution and delivery of content is coordinated by the underlying frameworks and technologies of the dWeb. And by incorporating these technologies into dSocial, the demand for any post and its content is matched seamlessly and in real-time by the network of devices connected to dSocial.
We’ve mentioned how Parler was taken down by the coordinated efforts of big tech. Apple and Google, for their part, removed the Parler application from their mobile app stores, preventing would be users from installing the app on their devices. Amazon, on the other hand, took things a step further and completely disabled Parler’s web-based application, which at the time was running on Amazon’s web hosting service. This takedown of Parler highlights an important vulnerability of centralized applications and is one of the main reasons why we designed dSocial to run in a decentralized and distributed environment. dSocial is not hosted by a centralized hosting service, such as the one from Amazon, nor does it rely heavily on centralized servers and data centers. As we’ve previously discussed, dSocial utilizes the combination of blockchain and cryptography for user security, and incorporates a variety of decentralized and distributed technologies for content delivery. Alas, as well as these features work to circumvent the control and influence of big tech, by themselves they are not enough to overcome the extreme technical difficulties presented by the often maligned actions of ICANN and ARISEN, the international agencies responsible for regulating domain names and IP addresses (network addresses), respectively.
To overcome the challenges presented by organizations such as ICANN and ARISEN, dSocial makes use of dWeb’s core protocols for maintaining a decentralized system of domain names and a system of publicly accessible network addresses. These systems, by and large, eliminate the need for centralized domain names and IP addresses, allowing dWeb-based applications to operate in a completely decentralized and distributed manner. For an application like dSocial, this means that a user can access dSocial through a dWeb-enabled browser like dBrowser, and largely forgo the use of centralized systems, such as those for domain names and IP addresses. And no matter how much companies like Apple, Google and Amazon would like to block your access to free speech, when using dSocial, they’re simply powerless to do so. And no matter how much politicians in D.C. or agencies like ICANN and ARISEN would like to control what you can do and say online, with dSocial, they’re simply unable to do so.
Coincidentally, reducing the need for centralized domain names addresses one of the key issues facing Gab, which has experienced difficulties staying online due to being forced to switch domain name registrars. But Gab has struggled with another critical issue facing pro-free speech applications, and that is their ability to accept payments in the form of credit cards. As with big tech, organizations like VISA and MasterCard, and the companies that process credit card payments on their behalf, for various reasons often find themselves aligned culturally and politically to the left. Sadly, for social networks like Gab, which permits users unmitigated free speech on its platform, including things that may offend organizations like VISA, MasterCard and their network or processors, the consequences can be frustrating. Gab has been routinely cutoff and denied merchant services due to its policies concerning free speech. As a result, Gab has faced difficulty generating revenue because it has often been unable to accept credit card payments for things like premium accounts, donations, and from companies looking to advertise on its platform.
dSocial significantly reduces the need for centralized forms of payment, such as those from organizations like VISA, MasterCard and PayPal. dSocial is integrated with a new digital currency called RIX, which can be used on dSocial to upvote the posts and comments of other users. This upvoting system provides users of dSocial a means of compensating one another for the quality and value of content they add to the network. dSocial is integrated with other digital currencies as well, so users can upvote posts and comments using popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Looking down the road, the ability for dSocial users to earn money in the form of digital currencies like RIX is exciting. Soon these users will be able to spend the money they earn on things like rides, via the upcoming dWeb-based Uber and Lyft competitor dRide, and music, through the upcoming dWeb-based music streaming service dTunes. And when it comes to the future of decentralized applications, dSocial, dRide and dTunes are only the beginning of what is sure to become a large and diverse ecosystem of dWeb-based apps and services.
One thing we’ve only lightly touched on is user privacy. In this case we’re talking about the type of things that social networks like Facebook and Twitter, potentially even Gab and Parler, do with your data once its on their servers. At a minimum, these companies thoroughly analyze your data, looking for trends and patterns that will help make their platforms more attractive to potential advertisers. There’s also the possibility that these companies are selling your data to third parties, such as the infamous case of Facebook selling and mining user data with U.K.-based firm Cambridge Analytica. The reasons as to why most people are unaware of what these companies are doing with their data are actually quite simple. For starters, companies like Facebook and Twitter have a byzantine set of policies that users must agree to before using their applications. These policies give them the right to do anything they want with your data, including selling it to third parties. But the more fundamental reason is that the code on which these platforms are built is closed source. This means that even if you wanted to verify what these platforms were doing with your data, you’d be unable to do so because you couldn’t view and analyze the code. dSocial is completely open source, and anyone who is interested in viewing and analyzing its code can do so easily. What’s more, dSocial’s policies concerning the selling and mining of user data are simple: we don’t do it and we never will — because we simply can’t.
dSocial represents a years-long effort to bring the benefits of decentralized and distributed applications to the masses. Due to its overall design and feature set, dSocial is ideal for conservatives, libertarians and free speech advocates looking for a social network that is free of bias, discrimination and censorship. Through its use of numerous decentralized and distributed technologies, including blockchain, cryptography and peer-driven content delivery, dSocial provides superior performance and security when compared to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Gab and Parler. If you are interested in joining dSocial, please visit https://dsocial.network where you can reserve your dSocial username. As a bonus, you can earn 1000 RIX by verifying your dSocial account with a mobile phone number and email address. If you would like to support the continued development of exciting applications like dSocial, dRide and dTunes, please visit https://iamfreedom.us where you can make a one-time donation or monthly contribution. Finally, if you would like to learn more about the many brave men and women fighting to stop big tech, please visit https://peepsx.com.
Until next time,
Peeps Development Team
