# Ink - a social protocol By [virtual](https://paragraph.com/@virtualjpeg) · 2021-10-05 --- Introduction ------------ Social platforms have emerged as a way for people to communicate online ever since the dawn of the internet. Evolving gradually, from the colourful and busy profiles of MySpace and personal websites to the carefully manicured and factory-style Facebook profiles, communication on the internet has seen rapid expansion. Now, ever since Satoshi Nakamoto published his inaugural whitepaper ‘[Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System](https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper)’ and a consortium of privacy concerns, a new standard for social has emerged: decentralization. This follows the natural progression from Web1 to Web2 and now what has been coined (no pun intended) as Web3. The somewhat expected and also necessary cultural revolution that ensued has led to a multitude of technological innovations, including smart contracts and defi to name a couple. This article proposes a new means of social communication on the internet and Ethereum blockchain: Ink. $INK token / Governance ----------------------- Ink as a protocol is at its core decentralized. This means we don’t and can’t allow for power abuse by moderators, let alone implement such as system. Although it is mentioned we may implement a simple filtering system below, it is important to us we stay uncensored. One way we maintain a quality reputation system is through our inbuilt utility token, $INK. The token is used for numerous things around the ecosystem, primarily reputation and governance. The token will be used to vote on proposals in the upcoming inkDAO, and maintain reputation through ways described in the ‘protocol’ section of the article. ### Distribution / Access Access to the platform is important to us. We will distribute $INK as an airdrop to users, as a ‘getting started’ amount, not as a periodic instalment. The protocol will provide a multitude of ways to earn $INK organically, and the 1 $INK airdrop will hopefully start interested users off with the platform. For every interaction with $INK on the platform, 30% will be burned. The token is also uncapped, meaning new tokens are minted, rather than used from a store / reused. The burn function stops inflation. Principles ---------- Whilst building Ink we have tried to maintain and stick to a set of core values and principles, as to not deviate from the original goal of the protocol. * **Accessibility / Freedom of participation** The protocol should be accessible to anyone, regardless of IRL persona or capital. This may include the platform being made chain-agnostic, or including gasless transactions in future, as well as enabling nothing but an Ethereum wallet and $INK to access. (1 $INK will be airdropped free to users) * **Freedom of expression** The protocol should be free for anyone to express their thoughts, opinions and ideas, provided it doesn’t clash with the first principle. The official Ink frontend may include _some_ built in censorship features to protect the average user, but the contract itself will be free to use and we would love to see users create their own secondary UI / frontends. * **Decentralization** The platform will be controlled not by one person but by its users. It will _not_ be hosted on a server and will _not_ be mediated or moderated by us (the core developers). Alongside this, all the code will be open source. Protocol -------- At Ink, we are trying to design a social protocol that aims to enhance the existing platforms of today and free users from the shackles of centralization. This requires both necessary and interesting new features, as well as an innovative new business model. We propose the protocol includes these features, some being added after the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is released. * **Posting.** Users can post to Ink freely. Put at a high level, posting is simply pushing to the `postIndex`mapping. Posting on Ink is different to posting on a traditional social platform in two key ways. Firstly, posts have the ability to receive $INK. This is displayed on your post and is key to the protocol remaining free from bad actors and bots. Secondly, the poster has the ability to mint their posts as an NFT, meaning it can be owned and published immutably on the blockchain, solving power abuse issues traditional platforms’ users have had to succumb to. * **Follow / unfollow** This is somewhat secondary to the $INK token, due to the somewhat artificial click of a button, versus the thoughtful gift of something that holds monetary value as well as utility. Despite this, the platform will still have a way of following creators as a method of feed curation and keeping tabs on friends and community members * **Tip posts / users** The protocol will allow users to tip other users and posts in our utility token, $INK. This again prevents bad actors and bots from abusing the platform (read up on [reputation](https://darkstar.mirror.xyz/aXm3OTVTK26hN2QKu82s8NjLQYPKCOMiVD2zIioCOVU) in web3 here), as well as a way to incentivize and pay independent creators. * **Social tokens / Group chat** _(post MVP)_ One aspect that could revolutionize the creator economy and internet is tokenized communities. This provides a means of truly decentralized creation and support, as well as a fun way to interact with your community. We propose a token-gated chat and DM feature for Ink, as well as token gated posts. This feature will hopefully be released after our initial v1 product or MVP. Hopefully, Ink will migrate to a DAO structure, enabling true decentralization and participation. Whilst we are still raising funds and developing the product, we are remaining as a decentralized community / project not a DAO, as to speed up development and ensure the product is as perfect as possible. Channels -------- Stay in touch with us. We are excited to build this future with you. * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/viaink) * [Discord](https://discord.gg/DQQp48kUvU) * [Github](https://github.com/inkapp) --- *Originally published on [virtual](https://paragraph.com/@virtualjpeg/ink-a-social-protocol)*