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Blue Sky: Can Twitter be owned by its users?

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Summary

This article discusses the Blue Sky project, which is an effort to decentralize Twitter. It explains that Twitter is currently controlled by a single entity and that power can be abused, so the only solution is to create a decentralized protocol. The article explains the various components of the protocol including user identities, data repositories, federation servers, big-world networking, small-world networking, and domain names. It also discusses the economics of moving to a decentralized architecture and estimates the costs of storage and bandwidth. In conclusion, it is possible to decentralize Twitter and create an ecosystem of service providers.

Q&As

What does it mean to decentralize Twitter?
To decentralize Twitter means to transform the platform from a centralized service, controlled by a single entity, to a distributed network where control and decision-making are spread across multiple, independent nodes.

How does the Blue Sky/AT Protocol define users' identities?
The Blue Sky/AT Protocol defines users' identities by using a cryptographic key with a public component and a private component. The true name of the ATP account is what's called a DID, a Decentralized Identifier, which is just a representation of the public key. The account can also have a domain name, just like websites on the internet have domain names and IP Addresses.

How do users own their accounts on the platform?
Users own their accounts on the platform by having a cryptographic key with a private component. This private key is the only way to access the account, and it is kept private by the user.

What is the difference between Big-World Networking and Small-World Networking?
Big-World Networking is the firehose of all the information that happens on the network. Small-World Networking is much more directed and downstream from Big-World: A Small-World Server only gets the information it needs to serve its clients: Posts, DMs, likes, and so on for just the people it serves, and those people its users follow.

What is the estimated cost of running a Big-World Server?
The estimated cost of running a Big-World Server is in the $4,000-10k/month range for storing 30 days worth of data with 2x redundancy.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides a great insight into the technical aspects of the Blue Sky project and the potential of decentralizing services. It is well-written and provides a comprehensive explanation of the ideas behind the project.

👎 This article is overly technical and may be difficult for some readers to understand. Additionally, the article does not consider the potential drawbacks of decentralizing services.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how Blue Sky is aiming to decentralize Twitter and how it works. It talks about how users can own their accounts, how data gets stored and how it can be accessed. It also looks into the economics of how it would be possible to move the Twitter beast to a decentralized system.

Friend: Wow, that sounds like a really interesting concept! What do you think the implications of this are?

Me: I think the implications are really significant. First, it means that users will have much more control over their data, as it will be stored in a distributed network rather than a centralized server. It also means that users can switch servers easily if they don't agree with the other server's algorithms. Furthermore, if the economics of decentralizing Twitter works out, it could be used as a model for other centralized services, such as ridesharing, to decentralize as well. This could potentially have a huge impact on how we access and use online services.

Action items

Research the AT Protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol) and the Decentralized Identifier (DID) to understand how Blue Sky works.
Explore the concept of Federation and how it applies to decentralizing Twitter.
Learn more about the economics of running a Big-World server and the cost of sending data between multiple Big-World servers.

Technical terms

Distributed Systems: A distributed system is a network of computers that communicate with each other to share resources and data.
Peer-to-Peer: Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a type of network architecture in which each computer or node in the network can act as both a client and a server.
Decentralize: Decentralization is the process of distributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority.
Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules and standards that govern how computers communicate with each other.
DID: A Decentralized Identifier (DID) is a unique identifier that is used to identify an entity on a distributed ledger.
DNS: The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical decentralized naming system for computers, services, or other resources connected to the Internet or a private network.
Federation: Federation is a type of distributed computing architecture in which multiple computers or nodes are connected to each other in a network and share resources and data.