Dear Distrikters,

As we move closer to publishing our draft Community Guidelines, we want to pause and speak plainly about what’s guiding our approach — not just the rules themselves, but the values behind them.

Because while content moderation might seem like a technical task, it’s really about something deeper:

• Safety
• Dignity
• Participation

These three principles shape everything we’re building. Here’s what they mean for distrikt — and for you.

Safety Means Everyone Belongs

Digital communities should be open and expressive — but they must also be safe.

So we’re drawing clear boundaries around what will no longer be allowed, including:

• Threats and harassment
• Dangerous challenges or glorified self-harm
• Revenge porn and synthetic non-consensual imagery
• Extremist content and ideological hate
• Glamorised disordered eating or dangerous health advice

These aren’t just “bad vibes.” They’re real harms that can affect mental health, lead to offline violence, or silence vulnerable voices.

We believe your safety — and the safety of others — isn’t negotiable.

Dignity Is Non-Negotiable

You have a right to exist online without being dehumanised.

That’s why we’re taking a hard stance on:

• Coordinated harassment or bullying
• Slurs disguised as “opinions”
• Content that degrades people based on who they are — race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, age, or background
• The spread of sexually invasive material — AI-generated or otherwise

Some of these issues are difficult. But we’re not shying away from them. If anything, we’re leaning in — because dignity should never be optional.

Participation Is the Point

distrikt isn’t just a broadcast space — it’s a community space.

We want every person here to feel like they can:

• Speak freely
• Disagree thoughtfully
• Ask questions
• Start something meaningful

But true participation only happens when the loudest, most aggressive voices don’t dominate. That’s why we’re building tools and policies that support:

• Respectful disagreement over personal attacks
• Strong norms around consent, identity, and representation
• A culture where moderation protects discussion, not suppresses it

In short: we’re not trying to make everything “safe and bland.” We’re trying to make it brave and respectful.

What Comes Next

In our next post, you’ll see the near-final draft of the full guidelines, and we’ll invite final thoughts before they go live.

Thank you for walking with us through this process.

Team Distrikt

Safety, Dignity, and Participation: What We Stand For was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Distrikters,

Over the past few months, we’ve been thinking deeply about what it means to build a space that feels open and safe — a space where free expression doesn’t come at the cost of dignity, trust, or personal wellbeing.

As the internet evolves, so do the challenges that come with it. From deepfakes and online hate to misinformation and personal harassment — our digital communities face pressures that didn’t exist even a few years ago.

That’s why we’ve been working behind the scenes on a set of Community Guidelines — shaped by research, legal developments, industry standards, and the needs of our unique community.

And before we finalise anything, we want to bring you into the conversation.

What’s Changing?

We’re building a new approach to moderation — one that’s:

• Clear about what’s not okay (and why)
• Grounded in personal safety, dignity, and inclusivity
• Open to feedback where it makes sense
• Aligned with broader community values and legal frameworks

The draft guidelines are structured around key categories — things like:

• Personal Safety
• Discrimination, Hate & Extremism
• Health & Wellbeing
• Exploitation and Consent
• Misinformation, Manipulation, and Platform Integrity
   …and more.

We’re building something together — and our guidelines should reflect the kind of community we all want to be part of.

Where Do You Come In?

This moment — right now — is your opportunity to shape the future of moderation on distrikt.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing more about the different areas these new guidelines will cover. But before the full documentation goes live, we’re inviting early feedback from our core community.

Whether you’re a Zone admin, an active contributor, or a quiet observer — your perspective matters.

Share your thoughts by tagging distrikt in distrikt, or in the comments of this post.

What’s Negotiable (And What’s Not)?

Some things — like protecting against child exploitation or hate speech — are non-negotiable. We’re aligning closely with legal standards and best practices from across the industry.

But other things — like how we communicate these policies, how moderation decisions are made, or how appeals should work — are open to conversation.

We’ll be honest about the difference.

What’s Next?

• In our next post, we’ll take you deeper into why these guidelines matter — not just what they prohibit, but the values they protect.
• Soon after, you’ll see a near-final version of the full Community Guidelines.
• Then comes your chance to suggest final tweaks before we launch officially.

We want distrikt to be a space that reflects the best of the internet — creative, weird, expressive, and yes, safe.

So let’s build it together.

Stay thoughtful,
 — Team Distrikt

Journey to a Safer, Stronger Community was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey distrikters!

We’ve been grinding away behind the scenes, and today we’re thrilled to roll out a long-asked-for feature and an exciting collaboration. This one’s for you, the distrikters who’ve been present (and patient) while we untangled deprecated code and laid the groundwork for a smoother, more powerful distrikt. BTW, behind the scenes we’ve been calling each release by a flavour of ice cream, and this one is “Caramel.”

Let’s dive in.

Universal Translation: Speak distrikt in Your Language

You asked, we heard you, we delivered. Post and comment translation is finally here!

• Tap the new translation icon (top-right of any post) to instantly convert content into your preferred language — powered by DeepL for accuracy and speed.
• Works on older posts and comments too — no left-behind conversations.
• Why DeepL? We opted for a proven off-chain solution to ensure robustness today. While we’re committed to decentralization, practicality won this round. (Don’t worry — we’re keeping an eye on on-chain alternatives for the future.)

Note: This is our first off-chain integration, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts. Love it? Hate it? Let us know.

Querio: Search the Internet, Powered by ICP

Our second integration is live, and it’s a biggie. Say hello to Querio, a decentralized web search engine built on ICP!

• Search web3 from within distrikt.
• Supports the ICP ecosystem by spotlighting fellow dApps.
• Early days? Absolutely. But we’re proud to collaborate with pioneering teams pushing decentralized tech forward.

Why This Matters

We know you’d rather use slick features than hear about backend overhauls (even if they’re critical). After months of heavy lifting we’re excited to ship tangible features that make distrikt more useful, inclusive, and connected.

What’s Next?

• Try it! Translate a post, test querio, and tell us what you think.
• Debate the off-chain tradeoff. We’re listening.
• Suggest integrations. What dApps should we team up with next?

This is your platform. Let’s keep building it — together.

Team distrikt

Universal Translation & Querio integration land on distrikt! was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Distrikt Community,

As the new president of the Open Internet Foundation, chosen directly from our community, I’m both honored and excited to lead us into the next chapter of distrikt’s journey. Let’s talk about where we are and where we’re headed within the context of distrikt’s motto “Connect on Your Own Terms.”

Our Journey and New Beginnings
In November 2023, faced with a rapidly changing market and regulatory landscape, the Open Internet Foundation made the tough decision to halt development on distrikt. This wasn’t an end but a transition toward new opportunities. By December, they were searching for fresh leadership to guide both OIF and Distrikt. I’m pleased to announce that this transition is now complete.

Staying True to Our Roots
distrikt remains under the stewardship of the OIF, a Swiss not-for-profit organization deeply committed to its founding principles. The core mission has not changed: “The foundation is not for profit. Its purpose is to develop open and permissionless products based on blockchain technology, enabling users to own and control their data, and to promote a free and open digital environment where users can be sovereign and enjoy the benefits of digital connectivity without fear that their data will be compromised or used without their consent.”

Our Legal and Technology Framework
Rooted in Switzerland, known for its strict privacy laws and data protection, our legal framework combined with Internet Computer Protocol technology ensures that your interactions with distrikt are secure, private, and empowering.

Navigating the Future with You
The new leadership is committed to maintaining the highest standards of operations and compliance as we navigate complex regulations around KYC, AML, and cryptocurrency. We aim for distrikt to thrive, not just survive.

Community at the Core
At the heart of distrikt’s roadmap is our community — YOU. This focus will not only continue but will deepen. distrikt is more than a platform; it’s a community where you can express yourself, share insights, and connect on your own terms. We are also part of the broader ICP dApp community, which remains a vital part of our identity and strategy moving forward.

Engage and Shape Our Future
In the coming days, weeks, and months, we will be actively sharing updates and plans. Your feedback is crucial. We encourage you to engage with us across all our platforms, especially within distrikt itself. Your voice matters — together, we are stronger.

Let’s continue to build a platform that puts you, the community, at the center, ensuring that every connection and interaction on distrikt is on your own terms. Thank you for being such an integral part of this journey.

Together, let’s shape a connected future that truly belongs to us all.

Nick Myers

President, OIF

Get ready to dive back into distrikt! was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

GM distrikters! It’s been a while since our last update, but we’ve been busy building one of the most interesting features we’ve ever released!

In our previous product update, we opened distrikt for public view, meaning anyone can browse the platform without needing to sign up or log in. Now we are getting ready to introduce a tipping system that will enhance your distrikt experience.

This upgrade introduces the first SoFi element to distrikt and paves the way for future developments that will support the web3 creator economy.

The First Step Towards Decentralized Creator Economy

Social media networks are the playground of content creators and the main catalyst for an emerging creator economy. Web3 social media networks have the potential to take this empowerment of digital creators even further, enabling them to take full ownership of their content and facilitate a more equitable relationship between them and the platforms they use.

distrikt’s commitment to user sovereignty and decentralization makes it a valuable addition to the emerging world of decentralized social media, offering users a more private and secure way to connect and share content online.

Distrikt offers a highly secure and private social media experience compared to centralized platforms.

By leveraging the Internet Computer Protocol, distrikt offers users the comfort of engaging without concerns of being tracked, exploited, or monetized by the platform.

With the introduction of a tipping system, distrikt will facilitate the means through which content creators can monetize their content and introduce the first of many features that will help them benefit from the value of web3 tokenization.

The power of tokenization

If done right, tokenization can become a powerful tool that unlocks innovation and new digital experiences. Used in governance, tokenization facilitates ownership and control over the platforms and infrastructure we use, including our digital identity, assets, content, and associated data.

The appeal of a decentralized platform is that token holders can decide how the product evolves, how their data is being used, and how to better monetize their content. Which enables content creators to grow their community without being encumbered by the gatekeeping of many social media networks today. This is a significant paradigm shift that will level the playfield between platforms and their users.

Tokenization can also fuel thriving micro-economies and automated revenue streams for brands, influencers and content creators.

By implementing distrikt’s tipping system we aim to help kickstart the emergence of its own Web3 creator economy.

Our goals for this new release are to help boost valuable content creators and encourage new users to engage with the distrikt community and start their web3 journey with us.

Tipping feature overview

While we are busy with last minute testing, we thought it best to give you an overview, let you know what you can expect, and gather some early feedback.

So what have we been cooking? A tipping system that will enable users to tip content creators with ICP and ckBTC tokens. All tipping features will be available on both the Web version and the distrikt mobile applications.

Who can users tip?

You can tip any distrikt account you wish to, there are no restrictions on who you can tip.

How can users tip

You can tip other users on distrikt in various ways:

• directly on posts on their feed
• via the tip button on a user’s profile.
• In their DM conversations

With what tokens can users tip?

1. With your own ICP or ckBTC tokens: user-to-user direct tipping via posts, profiles, and messages
2. With ICP tokens from the distrikt community pool: Tipping other users from a pool of tokens accessible to eligible accounts.

What features does the tipping system introduce:

• Dashboard: wallet, stats, transaction history & claim tip
• Community Pool: predefined eligibility, allocation, and timeline
• Tip option on profiles, posts, and DMs

! Important: the distrikt tipping system is a non-custodial service, if you lose access to your II, you will lose access to everything attached to it including your distrikt account and all associated assets.

The new and improved dashboard

The distrikt dashboard started out as the home for your PODs but has now evolved into the centerpiece of the distrikt tipping system, a place where you can manage and keep track of your tokens.

The distrikt dashboard will now be the place where you:

• Deposit the ICP and ckBTC tokens you want to use within the distrikt platform
• Store and Manage your POD and PokedBots NFTs
• Use your tokens for tipping other users
• View your community pool allocation(if eligible)
• Claim tips from the community pool
• Keep track of all tips and transactions

In our previous articles, we discussed how a user profile can act as a wallet on decentralized social platforms. This offers many advantages, including seamless authentication for NFT-gated features (on our roadmap for this year). To that end we have added support for the PokedBots NFT collection to the distrikt dashboard.

Community Pool Tipping

To kickstart this tipping system and incentivize its use, we’ve set up a 12 week long community pool of 300 ICP, that offers eligible accounts a weekly allocation of 1 ICP/week to use for tipping other users.

Eligibility: who can claim?

The distrikt platform will randomly select 25 users out of the top 50 popular accounts each week and grant them access to the community pool allocation for the duration of that week.

Please note that eligible users cannot tip themselves via the community pool.

The community pool is meant to encourage the creation of quality content, and although this measure is not a bulletproof protective measure, it will make it harder for malicious accounts to abuse the community pool.

The distrikt community pool is a particularly exciting feature and we will be monitoring it closely to see if it becomes an efficient tool for rewarding users that contribute with quality content.

How can users claim a tip?

If you have received a tip, a notification will inform and redirect you to your distrikt dashboard where you can claim the tip for up to 3 days.

If you have received a tip but you haven’t logged in distrikt for more than 3 days and failed to claim it, then the tip will return to the community pool. You will know this is the case if you see a tip labeled as expired in your dashboard.

Community pool tipping rules

• Users can tip the same post just one time/week
• Users can tip max 3 posts of the same account/week
• Users can directly tip an account just one time/week
• Users cannot send tips from the CP via DM

User to User Direct Tipping

The direct tipping feature is pretty self-explanatory. All you need to do is have enough funds in your Wallet to send IC or ckBTC tokens to another distrikt account by signing a transaction with your Internet Identity.

Users can tip other users with their own tokens the same way they would via the community pool: on posts, profile or in their DMs with another user.

User-to-User direct tipping requires no claiming by the receiver. When you receive or send a tip to someone, the balance gets updated as soon as the settlement of the transaction finalizes on the ledger.

DM tipping

Users can now send ICP and ckBTC tokens directly via chat messages. This feature is available for user-to-user tipping only, no part of your community allocation can be used to tip via DM.

Privacy vs Transparency

The users that have tipped you and the amount tipped will be added to a supporter list that will be visible on your profile. You can decide to make the number of supporters public if you wish but everything else is set as private.

The amount of tips received on a post will be public, but the accounts that have tipped the post will not be publicly displayed. You can view all transactions and supporters’ details in your dashboard.

Optimized Notifications

While preparing for this release we took the opportunity to optimize the notification system and make it easier for you to have an overview of your engagement. You can now sort notifications based on likes, followers, tips or replies.

About distrikt

distrikt is a decentralized social network built 100% on the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain.

distrikt is fully self-funded and supported by the Open Internet Foundation.

distrikt users will not be the product and will not pay with their data to use the platform. Instead, distrikt users will own their data and identity and have a say regarding the governance of the platform and its future development.

distrikt is to become a strong user-centric alternative to the status quo and it will become a fully decentralized and user-owned social media network soon. Each iteration of distrikt will lead us closer to this goal!

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

Our Previous Posts

https://medium.com/distrikt/distrikt-v1-25-introducing-pinned-posts-and-link-previews-aea18048bac

https://medium.com/distrikt/internet-identity-the-zero-knowledge-identity-system-powering-distrikts-user-authentication-cb577384aa0a

Introducing Distrikt’s New Tipping Feature was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This product release is focused on opening up the web application for public discoverability and improving user experience. We will follow up shortly with a mobile app update that will significantly improve performance.

Lets get started and break down what this updates holds!

What’s New!?

• Open platform: no login access to view content
• Filters added to the Stream — Explore your niche
• Trending hashtags — See what the community is talking about
• Improved to Link Previews
• Improved ranking of popular users and featured posts in the Stream feed

distrikt is now open for view 👀

Gone are the days when you had to login in order to see content posted on distrikt. The content you post on distrikt is finally open for view!

You can now share the link to your distrikt post or profile on other platforms. The link preview will show the applicable image (if present) and a snippet of your content rather than the default distrikt information.

The first thing you’ll see if you are visiting distrikt.app directly without being signed up and logged in is the Stream feed.

Guests can scroll the Stream as much as they wish, read posts, comments, browse threads, and check out a user’s profiles/ activity and experiences. They can scroll and view content, but if they want to engage with a post or an account they will need to log in/sign up.

All filters and trending #hashtags will also be usable for guests so that you can really get a good impression of what’s happening on distrikt.

Filters on Stream will help you find relevant content quicker 🔍

Check out the new and improved Stream feed and you will see some interesting new additions, meant to help you discover relevant content more easily.

Filters will help you nagivate the Stream of consciousness that is distrikt’s discovery feed.

The Stream can be thought of as a real-time feed of users posting on distrikt. distrikt doesn’t implement additional algorithms to its feed or platform for displaying user posts. All the posts are displayed to users in a reverse-chronological order. So these filters come in handy for tuning down the noise and narrowing down your explorations.

Good to note: Apart from the Stream section, users only see the posts of people they follow or the content they look up via search.

Trending Hashtags will show where the community focus lies #️

Stay up to date with the relevant and trending discussions on distrikt with the trending #hashtag feature. Make sure to use a relevant hashtag when posting to participate in this discovery feature.

Good to note: The trending tags refresh weekly just like the “trending” section of Stream. We have made these improvements so that users can easily discover what the talk of the town is, in any particular week, and discover the most popular and engaging content on distrikt.

Link Previews get more inclusive ✔️

Link previews had a rocky start but we’ve improved them in this release. Make sure to make the best of this feature and share third party hosted content with your distikt audience!

We have also made significant upgrades to popular users and featured posts section of the Stream. We expect that this would help highlight valuable content creators better, but keep in mind that this is still an exerimental feature and we’re looking for ways to improve it.

View profile photo and cover photo 🧐

After gathering your feedback on this, we have made profile photos and cover photos viewable. Simply click on them and they will open up for you as a any other image would.

That’s it for this release, and as we wrap this up we are excited to start implement distrikt tipping systems which will make it’s debut with a ckBTC integration!

Come and say “hi” to us on-chain at distrikt.app !

About distrikt

distrikt is a decentralized social network built 100% on the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain.

distrikt is fully self-funded and supported by the Open Internet Foundation.

distrikt users will not be the product and will not pay with their data to use the platform. Instead, distrikt users will own their data and identity and have a say regarding the governance of the platform and its future development.

distrikt is to become a strong user-centric alternative to the status quo and it will become a fully decentralized and user-owned social media network soon. Each iteration of distrikt will lead us closer to this goal!

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

Our Previous Posts

https://medium.com/distrikt/distrikt-v1-25-introducing-pinned-posts-and-link-previews-aea18048bac

https://medium.com/distrikt/internet-identity-the-zero-knowledge-identity-system-powering-distrikts-user-authentication-cb577384aa0a

distrikt Product Release v1.3 was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As you may know we’ve recently made some updates to our platform and added some cool new features to enhance the user experience. We’re pleased to see that many of you are taking advantage of these new features.

However, we’ve also identified some bugs and are working to resolve them in upcoming releases. If you come across any bugs, please utilize the in-app feedback feature to inform us!

But for now let’s take a moment and talk about profile verification and the process behind it in preparation for our twitter space that’s starting in a couple of hours — set a reminder!

Profile verification and its importance

We have been providing verification for distrikt users for some time now, and we are getting ready to evolve the verification process into a community-led effort. For now, the process of verifying active users and prominent ICP profiles is not as efficient as we would like, as it is done manually and we have limited resourced.

distrikt places great importance on user sovereignty and users can create accounts using Internet Identity, the Internet Computer Protocol’s version of a zero-gas hot wallet that is secured by the hardware security modules (HSMs) built into the user’s device.

However, this also presents a challenge in terms of sybil resistance. The reverse-gas nature of the Internet Identity makes it relatively easy for users to create multiple identities. This makes it harder to asses distrikt’s actual growth and negatively impacts user experience. So we need additional measures to ensure that the platform remains secure and prioritizes legitimate and real users. But in order for this to happen we first need to asses accounts and identity these genuine users.

distrikt’s need for a verification process

We recognized the need for a robust profile verification process immediately after launching the platform. With an influx of claims for usernames associated with brands, companies, and public figures, we were concerned about the consequences of impersonators trying to scam users.

To combat this, we implemented a verification process that aimed to offer the verified badge to brands, companies, and public figures only.

While the qualifications for these categories were broad, we carefully evaluated each case to determine if an impersonator could use the original entity’s influence to attempt a malicious action against our community.

Eventually, we realized that this approach had its limitations, and distrikt users were constantly asking to be included in our verification efforts so we’ve adapted the process to include normal users that are active and act and post in a genuine fashion.

We have been continuously working to improve and refine the verification process to ensure that our platform remains secure for all users.

distrikt’s profile verification and its evolution.

We initially made the very naive decision to add a “Verify Me” button on the distrikt user profile. This turned into a spammy nightmare as users abused this feature. After looking at thousands of requests, we decided to remove the verify button and approach the problem with a simpler and direct solution.

The second step was to encourage the projects to just contact us directly via our Telegram, Discord or Twitter. We did have direct requests and had to intervene in a couple of cases of clear impersonation. But the community was now asking for us to verify regular accounts. It signaled a bigger need of the IC ecosystem, which is a proof-of-personhood, or a proof-of-humanity service. So we decided to offer that to the best of our ability.

The third evolution of the profile verification process was to develop a simple algorithm that would rank organic usage, so we have a better understanding if an account acts like a normal user or is a bot. This meant not accounting only for the obvious, and easy to fake metrics such as comments, likes or followers, but focus on identifying actions that a user would do as a normal person using a social media network: login, check notifications, load more posts on the news feed or check out the discovery feed. But this “user heartbeat” is not bullet-proof or reliable enough to automatically give user verification badges.

This leads us to the 4th iteration of the distrikt profile verification process, that takes into account the user heartbeat plus a dedicated human moderator that manually verifies the account and makes sure that it meets all the criteria.

What qualifies an account to receive the verified badge?

Verification criteria:

1. Accounts must be at least 2 months old and not flagged as fake or as part of a multiple accounts pattern.
2. Accounts must have posted in the last 2 weeks. We need to make sure that the account is active and the owner of the account hasn’t lost access to it.
3. Accounts must have genuine content and not populate the platform with spam. The language used doesn’t matter as long as the content is organic.
4. Accounts must have relevant, reinforcing connections (e.g. interactions with other accounts, ideally verified as well).

Moderators are looking at the content posted itself, just to check that it’s not automated gibberish, or how we like to call it “fortune cookie content” and if the account has any relevant, reinforcing connections.

A good example would be an account with photography content that receives interactions from other verified accounts or a normal account that has engagement from other verified accounts. Given that we have crossed over 1600 verified accounts that shouldn’t be a very challenging requirement.

Please note that requests from users are not a factor in this current verification process. Profile verification does not happen by request of the user, but we do add your request to the moderator’s task list and they are getting evaluated. But verification is not guaranteed just because a profile has requested it. We are very rigurous in our assesment and try to maintain a high standard for verification.

Also very important to mention is the fact that badges can and have been removed. The verification check marks can be removed under certain conditions like: prolonged lack of activity, spam content or T&C violations.

We consider the checkmark a badge of authenticity & participation so we periodically review the list of verified accounts to make sure that the account is still active and more importantly is not using the increased legitimacy of the badge for malicious purposes.

distrikt now has over 1600 verified accounts and we will be allocating more badges soon

Is this a perfect process? Obviously not, but it’s better than our previous attempts and we’re constantly improving it.

The challenges we have with the way we verify profiles right now:

• Not scalable
• Not objective enough (cultural differences)
• Not accurate enough
• Not fast enough

What we do like about the current process is that it’s privacy-preserving and does not infringe on the user in any way.

We have refused to transform what is essentially a distrikt-level problem into a user-problem. This means taking accountability and doing the work ourselves for as long as we can, while refusing to request users to kyc or collect any personal data about them. We believe that this is also one of the biggest challenges of web3 social media platforms: proof of personhood (not of humanity) without having to collect sensitive information about the person owning the account.

How do we see profile verification improve?

• Improve the “heartbeat” algorithm. It’s currently in a basic form and not accurate enough. We can do better and it will help our current and future moderators tremendously. Having a reliable way of filtering through tens of thousands of profiles and extracting the ones that clearly qualify will help make this process more scalable as the distrikt community grows.
• Improve our moderation dashboard and open it up to community moderators. distrikt has developed and maintain an internal moderation dashboard that we want to open up for moderators from within the community.
• Decentralize and increase the number of moderators. Moderation will be a big part of distrikt as we grow and a “job” for its own community members to perform. This last improvement is tightly linked with the overall decentralization and tokenization of the distrikt ecosystem, but we don’t need tokenization to make the first steps towards it and empower a select number of users to take on this challenge and pave the way.
• Reintroduce the verify-me button but only for moderators. This way distrikt moderators can send profiles to the “verification que” and signal them for the attention of other moderators. This feature should only be available only to profiles that are old enough to qualify.

Profile verification, reputation and moderation is a very big challenge not just for distrikt but for all decentralized social media networks. We are excited to see different approaches to this issue and we’re eager to learn from our peers.

Whatever the method, the results need to be good enough to cultivate a space where communities feel confident in the connections they form, and where people feel reassured that they are interacting with a human being on the other end.

Oh and let’s not forget about everyone’s favorite web3 word: airdrop. In the context of Airdrops, a reputation system that works and is reliable is even more important. We have been notoriously careful in distributing the POD collection and we took our time to gradually airdrop the NFT collection to eligible accounts. As a consequence the PODs are one of the best distributed NFT collections and have been well received by our community and the $ICP community at large.

That is not to say that only verified users receive the POD airdrop, because that is not true. A lot of unverified accounts have received the airdrop but not the checkmark. That is because we are more rigurous in asigning verification as we should when it comes to asigning a badge that indicated increased credibility.

That being said, once the profile verification process scales with the help of community moderators and distrikt gets a proper amount of traction, we can be more confident in relying on it when we need to organize a fair airdrop.

About distrikt

Distrikt is a decentralized social network built 100% on the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain.

distrikt is fully self-funded and supported by the Open Internet Foundation.

distrikt users will not be the product and will not pay with their data to use the platform. Instead, distrikt users will own their data and identity and have a say regarding the governance of the platform and its future development.

distrikt is to become a strong user-centric alternative to the status quo and it will become a fully decentralized and user-owned social media network soon. Each iteration of distrikt will lead us closer to this goal!

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

The distrikt profile verification process was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Gm distrikters! ☕

We’re back with another product release and this time we’re keeping it short and sweet.

But first a note on growth: distrikt continues to grow with over 800k posts and +120k accounts. We’re excited to see this growth in a bear market and without any marketing spending .

This latest product update revolved around 2 features that have been heavily requested in our feedback form: pinned posts and link previews.

These two new features can be considered a “low hanging fruit” that will provide users with a more sophisticated content creation experience.

Pinned Posts: Keep Your Important Content Front and Center

This features allows users to pin up to three of their favorite or special posts to the top of their activity feed. No matter how often they post, the most important content will always be prominently displayed in the activity tab on their profile. From personal announcements to professional news, having the ability to keep these posts at the top of your profile will help increase visibility and engagement.

Link Previews: Get a Better Sense of What You’re Clicking On

Link previews will display a preview of the linked content when a user adds a link to a post. No more boring URL!

Now, users will have a better sense of what they can expect before clicking through, and reduce clickbait and misleading links. This feature will improve the user experience and bring a bit more transparency to our interactions.

Support for non-latin hashtags

distrikt now supports hashtags with non-latin characters such as Chinese, Greek, Russian, Japanese, Thai, etc.

Hashtag feature makes it more convenient for users to find and view posts by different communities and discover new content based on their interests.

Users can now post with hashtags in their native languages. By clicking on a hashtag, users can view more related posts that have been tagged with that specific hashtag. We’re happy to be able to roll this out in time for the Chinese New Year! 🥳

On top of this, we’ve also fixed some bugs that were impacting user experience. We’re excited to see how our users take advantage of these new features as we continue to enhance their experience on distrikt!

This is our second product release of 2023, and we’re not slowing down. Despite the bear market, our team has remained consistent in its commitment to building and improving the platform.

Keep an eye out for more updates as we work to bring you the best possible experience on distrikt!

About Distrikt

Distrikt is a decentralized social network built 100% on the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain.

distrikt is fully self-funded and supported by the Open Internet Foundation.

distrikt users will not be the product and will not pay with their data to use the platform. Instead, distrikt users will own their data and identity and have a say regarding the governance of the platform and its future development.

distrikt is to become a strong user-centric alternative to the status quo and it will become a fully decentralized and user-owned social media network soon. Each iteration of distrikt will lead us closer to this goal!

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

distrikt v1.25 Introducing Pinned Posts and Link Previews was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The importance of privacy-preserving identity systems

Web3 Identity Systems are revolutionizing the Authentication Paradigm of the Internet.

The Internet’s can make users extremely vulnerable and most of that vulnerability comes from the authentication standards used as “best practices” in web2, which make it an exploitative and outdated environment.

Blockchain technology brings a different paradigm to the Internet’s status quo and is it’s disruption is making our digital landscape more and more decentralized and privacy-preserving. That’s not to say that this new world doesn’t have its own share of lingering inefficiencies that create friction for the average user. But it is developing web3 solutions to web2 problems at an accelerating pace. Such problems, that Internet Identity addresses, are personal privacy and identity management.

Not just Web3 applications need Web3 Identity Systems.

Internet users have become dangerously accustomed to giving up sensitive, personal information in order to access digital products and platforms. That sensitive data can and has been compromised and used in malicious ways, as shown by the countless data breaches and illegal trading of users’ personal information.

Typically, when someone creates an Account/Profile on a web2 service such as Twitter or Medium, they have to use their Email as the authenticating ID along with a password.

The ID credentials and the password is almost always stored in a centralized server database owned by the identity provider or the web2 software company.

There isn’t much transparency on how these identity service providers manage and protect your data or if access to your account is being granted to third parties.

If we are talking bad faith, all of the current web2 data, including user data, is technically owned by software companies, as it is hosted within their centralized servers to which they have unrestricted access.

Cambridge Analytica, countless data breaches, and illegal trading of personal information are only a few of the proven dangers that come with the way social media networks (and not only) treat users and their personal data.

With the help of blockchain-based solutions like the Internet Identity, we finally have a universal digital identity system that prioritizes privacy whenever we log into any website or application and doesn’t require us to create any new accounts or passwords.

This is a huge step forward in online privacy and can go so far as to reduce online fraud and identity theft as well as providing a more trustworthy environment for users navigating new platforms.

The II enables Pseudonymous and Secure Authentication to Distrikt and most of the ICP ecosystem.

Cryptographic identity solutions are great, but many legacy Crypto authentication methodologies are cumbersome and involve complex key management and sometimes even exposure of private keys to insecure front-ends hosted on insecure cloud servers.

A true web3 identity system provides authentication for securely accessing dapps, with minimal trust assumptions associated with it by leveraging advanced cryptography solutions.

Thanks to the Internet Identity authentication system, distrikt enables users to create their profile and sign in to their accounts without disclosing any personal information whatsoever.

This authentication method via Internet Identity has been a fundamental value proposition for distrikt, as it aligns with the platform’s values of prioritizing the user’s privacy and sovereignty.

On ICP, applications like distrikt are built as Smart Contracts that live 100% on-chain, in contrast to simply leveraging blockchain for the token ledger. Both the Front-end and back-end of the decentralized application are hosted fully on-chain as Canister Smart contracts. This is possible because of the unique capabilities of the Internet Computer.

ICP is an end-to-end blockchain network that hosts internet-scale software as Smart contract canisters, and these smart contracts serve the web directly via HTTP(S) calls without relying on any cloud servers or external networks.

Internet Identity can be used to authenticate to most Dapps on the IC, including the Network Nervous System — the on-chain governance system of ICP, which also supports an ICP wallet.

Similarly, whenever a user signs into a new dapp, for example, a Decentralized Social application like Distrikt or OpenChat, a unique (principal ID) is created for their account, allowing users to hold their tokens natively within the Dapp and unlocking a variety of web3 features.

Distrikt never collects a user’s credentials as the Internet Identity always creates a pseudonymous ID used for interacting with the distrikt application smart contract.

The Internet Identity authentication system is

• Decentralized: it is hosted and runs fully on-chain as an immutable smart contract
• Simple to use compared to other blockchain solutions.
• Free to create and use — doesn’t require tokens.
• Secure: user data sovereignty is secured with end-to-end blockchain cryptography
• Privacy-preserving: Internet Identity is anonymizing and generates a pseudonymous ID for every canister a user authenticates with — thereby preventing tracking.
• Portable: With seed phrase, security keys, or remote device registration.

These features of II allow users to create accounts without having to share any authenticating credentials with platforms. Distrikt knows nothing about the user when they sign up with an Internet Identity anchor.

Create your Internet Identity now

Why Distrikt Embraces Internet Identity

Ditch Web2 Identity Systems to embrace the sovereignty and autonomy of web3

In the past, private key management has been notoriously cumbersome for many users who first need to become familiar with blockchain technology and educate themselves about security measures that allow them to manage their keys securely.

The II, although in need of its own UX improvements, is a great step forward in simplifying this process while remaining decentralized and permisionless.

How it works

The II is easy to use once you get the hang of it

Users can log in to Internet Identity using their devices biometrics or other supported device authentication methods like security keys or Ledger devices. This puts an end to the need to use a username + password.

The system generates a private/public key pairing, where the public key is used to identify an individual, and the user manages the private key for authentication via biometrics or a security key.

Hardware wallets or security keys, such as the Ledger hardware wallet or the Yubikey, can add additional security layers to your II (Internet Identity). The private keys of the user are stored within the hardware chips of their devices, and that information never leaves the device. Therefore the exposure of user private keys to insecure front-ends decreases significantly.

To use Internet Identity, you only need a device with biometrics/security key, an internet connection, and a browser.

Internet Identity is supported by nearly all modern web browsers and end-user digital devices, including PCs and smartphones.

After creating an Internet Identity Anchor, users can manage their Internet Identity via the II’s dedicated interface, where advanced options such as remote device adding and seed phrase protection are available.

Users can add and authorize up to 8 trusted devices, allowing them to back up their account and access dapps across all of their devices.

Upgrades and (im)mutability

We can rely on the Internet Identity to run 24/7. The developers or users do not have to ask the permission of any centralized entity to use the Identity system. This also reduces platform risk significantly.

Internet Identity can be upgraded and evolved only by the Network Nervous System DAO — the open algorithmic on-chain governance DAO that upgrades and controls the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain network.

Privacy and User Sovereignty Matters to us

Distrikt’s mission is to provide a better alternative to traditional social media networks by creating a network that respects its user’s sovereignty and offers them decision-making power over the platform.

Collecting user data and controlling it would go against this principle while the II’s inherent privacy-preserving design is actively helping distrikt in achieve its mission. We take great care in choosing which third-party services should be integrated into the platform, ensuring they are decentralized, permissionless, secure, and failsafe to the maximum extent. The II fits masterfully into the category of integrations that align with distrikt’s values.

There are multiple advantages to leveraging the Internet Identity authentication system of ICP.

One of the most significant advantages is that since the user creates and manages their Internet Identity, applications like will never have to touch or handle user private information insecurely because they can’t access your II or store any credentials you use to authenticate with the dapps.

The reverse of this amazing value proposition is the responsibility that comes with this autonomy: if the user loses their keys and Internet Identity, no one will be able to recover their access as there are no middlemen that manage this system. Your keys, Your data.

When a user creates an account on an ICP dapp such as distrikt with their internet identity, the dapp has no direct knowledge about the Internet Identity being used. Instead, II creates anonymous sessions across dapps and leverages pseudonymous ID creation, which is the only ID visible to dapps/smart contracts the user uses.

So the II also offers protection if one of the dapps that you signed into turns out to be malicious. In that case, they won’t be able to use your Internet Identity to cause additional harm beyond that application environment.

This helps mitigate attacks and strictly limits the authority of the dapp over your identity and associated assets.

We believe that blockchain technology can and should be used to build a decentralized digital identity system where people control their own data and decide who can access it. Self-sovereignty is one of the promises of web3, and the II does a beautiful job of living up to the challenge.

About Distrikt

Distrikt is a decentralized social network built 100% on the Internet Computer Protocol blockchain.

distrikt is fully self-funded and supported by the Open Internet Foundation.

distrikt users will not be the product and will not pay with their data to use the platform. Instead, distrikt users will own their data and identity and have a say regarding the governance of the platform and its future development.

distrikt is to become a strong user-centric alternative to the status quo and it will become a fully decentralized and user-owned social media network soon. Each iteration of distrikt will lead us closer to this goal!

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

Internet Identity: The zero-knowledge Identity System Powering Distrikt’s User Authentication. was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We are back with another product release right in time for the New Year. This update includes a range of new features that were heavily requested by our community and we’re excited to see them live and kicking!

Here's a look at what's new

Polls: Pick the brains of other distrikters!

Polls are now live on the Distrikt platform, including multiple choice options. This will make it easier to ask your followers or community for their opinions and preferences on any topic of your choosing. This new feature adds a dynamic and interactive element to the platform, giving users the ability to gather insights and engage with their followers in a more meaningful way.

The multiple-choice option in polls enables more nuanced opinions on specific questions. This can facilitate more informed decisions and we hope projects and NFT creators will find this a useful tool for their community building,

Threads Edit: Typos Begone! This new feature allows you to edit your thread posts while you’re composing them. Whether you want to fix a typo, add some holiday cheer, or make sure your information is up-to-date, the threads edit feature offers more flexibility.

Show/Hide Wallet Addresses on profile: the privacy switch you requested!

We've added the option to show or hide your external wallet addresses on your distrikt profile. While these addresses are hidden by default on your profile, you can choose to share them with others if you want to. And don't worry, your primary addresses will still be included in exports.

Popular This Week: Explore the Most Popular Users and Posts on Distrikt!

We added a new feature for users to discover popular posts on the Stream. The “popular this week” section can be found pinned on top of the Stream feed and highlights content and creators that saw the most engagement in the past week and is updated on a weekly basis(every Monday).

Whether you’re looking to explore the top trending topics on distrikt or just want to connect with others on the platform, the “popular this week” section is a great place to start. We’re looking forward to see some New Year’s resolutions highlighted soon!

In addition to these new features, we've also included a number of bug fixes and performance enhancements to improve the overall experience on the platform.

We hope you enjoy the updates, and on behalf of the distrikt team we wish you a Happy New Year! 🥳

Sign up to distrikt.app to get started.

Get Distrikt for iOS | Get Distrikt for Android

Connect with Distrikt: check out our Bink (web3 linktree)

Distrikt Product Release v 1.2 was originally published in Distrikt on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.