3Box Decentralized Comments API 💬
Introducing, 3Box Threads: The Easiest Way to Add Decentralized Comments and Communication to your App
Decentralized Comments for Every App
We’re excited to announce that today we’re releasing the first version of our decentralized messaging API: Open Threads. Threads allow any number of users to openly send and receive messages in sequence. Thread data is stored on the 3Box network with the users themselves instead of on your server or the blockchain.
Users of your app can now message, post, comment, collaborate, converse, and even make decisions in a decentralized manner, on anything at all — from proposals, to addresses, contracts, NFTs, news articles, media content, URLs, chats, and much more. Threads make dapps like DAOs, marketplaces, games, social networks, and content/media platforms viable and useable with richer, more social, interactive user experiences.
If you want to be a launch partner for threads, get in touch.
Continue reading this post to learn more about this exciting new feature, or jump right to our API Documentation on Github to get started building today.
Disclaimer: The version of the Threads API that we are releasing today is still experimental. We haven’t yet built the moderation module, so we wouldn’t recommend moving into production with this version — since no spam protection. We will be following up this release with a production version in the coming weeks. However, this shouldn’t stop you from building threads into your app today!
Use Cases
The possibilities for decentralized comments are endless, but here are a few ideas to get your imagination going.
- Media and Content Platforms: Media and content platforms surface relevant content for users to consume. With 3Box comments, now users can respond to content and continue the conversation. Examples: Decrypt Media, The Block, Kauri
- Social Media Networks: Social media networks are designed around user content interactions. Users share bits of content and other users respond. Examples: Peepeth, Cent
- DAOs and Collaboration Platforms: DAOs and distributed collaboration platforms are 99% discussion and 1% voting. 3Box comments make DAO platforms distributed, usable, and viable. Examples: DAOstack, Aragon, MolochDAO, dxDAO
- Messaging Applications: Decentralized messaging apps need a scalable, distributed place to put the message data that remains in the control of the users. 3Box threads make all of this possible. We expect to see many messaging apps be built with our API.
- Games: Most games, except for single player, are inherently social and require messages to be exchanged synchronously or asynchronously between users. Threads allow users to chat and interact on your platform in new ways. Examples: CryptoKitties, Decentraland
- Marketplaces: Marketplaces facilitate the exchange of goods, services, ideas, and other things. Threads allow users to comment on items listed on the marketplace, whether they’re bounties, proposals, or items for sale. Examples: OpenSea, Bounties Network, Gitcoin, Origin
Why add decentralized messaging to your app?
There are many reasons why you would want to support conversational interactions in your application, but here are some of the primary benefits.
- Usage and Engagement: Richer, more interactive, and social user experiences drive increased usage and engagement. Most app interactions don’t require the blockchain, but rather are between users. Threads now makes this possible.
- Security and Scalability: Store comment data on the distributed web, not the blockchain or your server, and allow users to maintain ultimate control over their information and privacy.
- Risk Reduction: Eliminate overhead, liability, and risk of managing user comment data on your servers where it’s centralized and a liability, or the blockchain where it can never be removed.
- Build Trust with Users: Eliminate dependence on third-party plugins such as Disqus that sell user data to advertisers and are known to have less than ideal privacy policies for users.
- Fully Customizable: Threads is a lightweight API that developers can fully configure the UI to the design requirements of their app.
Upcoming API Improvements
- User Roles and Moderation: Threads will have admins and moderators, who maintain permissions to delete the thread, or remove comments. This is useful to avoid spam, and remove unwanted/illegal content.
- Private Threads: Threads can be encrypted to a certain subset of users, enabling private conversations.
Begin building with 3Box Threads today! Visit our Github API docs to get started.
About 3Box
3Box is a distributed user data storage network. Our social APIs allow developers to build more fun, engaging, and social web3 applications. Give our profiles, storage, and commenting APIs a try!
