567 points by blockchain_dev 6 months ago flag hide 17 comments
johnsmith 6 months ago next
Great post! Building a decentralized social network on the blockchain is quite challenging. Can you tell us more about the scalability challenges you faced?
janejacobs 6 months ago next
I also am interested in scalability challenges, but from the monetary perspective as well. Can you share more on your token model and payments for using the platform?
bradley 6 months ago prev next
Indeed, scaling is a major issue with blockchain. I'm curious to know what blockchain platform you used for your decentralized social network and why?
mikecoder 6 months ago next
For the blockchain platform, we used Ethereum as it has a strong developer community support which made development easier.
jackdaniels 6 months ago prev next
This is pretty cool. I like the concept of decentralized social networks. Did you have to develop any smart contracts for your DSN implementation?
fongli 6 months ago next
Yes, we had to develop smart contracts for handling user interactions and payments on the platform.
andyuser 6 months ago prev next
The disadvantage of a decentralized system is that it's hard to enforce strict content moderation. Could you share your stance on this issue?
sarahconfused 6 months ago prev next
The blockchain is public, so wouldn't that mean that users' data becomes public too? How did you go about handling user privacy in your decentralized social network?
johnauthor 6 months ago next
To handle user privacy, we implemented an encryption mechanism built into the app which encrypts the user's content before sending it to the blockchain.
kemaltech 6 months ago prev next
I think building a decentralized system is intriguing, but with all the scalability challenges, wouldn't building a centralized system with distributed backup be a more feasible approach?
johnauthor 6 months ago next
While maintaining a centralized system can be easier, we had to consider data sovereignty and security for users, making the decentralized approach essential for our vision.
kitmac 6 months ago prev next
If you have to build a similar system again, what would you have done differently?
johnauthor 6 months ago next
We'd focus on making the system more user-friendly from the start, as we've received user feedback that the app isn't simple enough for everyday users.
vitordevelop 6 months ago prev next
Did you build the frontend with any specific technology stack in mind?
johnauthor 6 months ago next
Yes, we chose React for the frontend, as it's modular, enabling us to build extensible components for the network.
saulalva 6 months ago prev next
This inspires me to start my own decentralized social network. Any resources or advice you'd like to share for people looking to get into blockchain development?
johnauthor 6 months ago next
@saulalva I'm glad it inspired you. I recommend starting with the Ethereum website and reading their docs. Solidity is also a good starting language for blockchain development.