| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| July 29, 2022 | First version |
| Nov 28, 2022 | Mask Grant winners list |
| July 1, 2023 | 2nd Batch Mask Grant winners updated |
| Mar 15, 2024 | 3rd Batch Mask Grant winners updated |
| Aug 26, 2024 | Events - web3 social day |
Mask Network is your portal to the new internet. We are bringing freedom of speech and data ownership back to normal users through the composable web3 social ecosystem we are building.
On the protocol level, we have products covering Decentralized Identity, Social Graph, Information distribution, Messaging, Notifications, etc. On the application level, we also have products like Social Network, Forum, Instant Messenger, etc. The composability between protocols and apps can enable both seamless developer and user experience, facilitate ecosystem growth, and eventually bring millions of users to the new world.
We are building the ecosystem both via in-house product and external ecosystem investments. Inhouse products include Mask Network, the browser extension, Firefly, the web3 social aggregator (mobile app), and Next.ID, our next-gen ID aggregation solution. Ecosystem investments include RSS3 the info distribution protocol, Web3MQ, the messaging and notification protocol, Metaforo, the forum solution, Metachat, the chat aggregator, Alphagram, the web3 telegram, Quest 3, the social marketing tool, Interface.social, the next feed app, just to name a few.
Please see below for a detailed explanation. The best way to dissect it is both by area & layer, and by program stages.
On the right hand side are the 3 layers of the ecosystem, think of them as the google ecosystem, where features market is the Google Play store, social apps are various Android phones, and social protocols collectively as Android system.
On the left hand side are the infrastructure and data providers that has been powering our ecosystem.
Apply to various Mask Programs at different stages that fit you best and make your own contribution to the web3 space. We host a bunch of programs ourselves and sponsor even more external public good events. See this article for a deep dive of the Mask grant and ecosystem programs.
We’ll start explaining from the social protocol level. At the core of everything web3 social, decentralized identity is the quintessential part that lays the groundwork. Enter Next.id, our DID solution that could aggregates all web2 and web3 accounts and allows for a universal login experience to all Dapps.
The social protocol layer cannot sustain itself with only DID. In comes the rest of the social protocol families. Think of the web3 social protocols as an attempt to take all the WeChat data out of Tencent databases.
For the social applications, we believe in that changes will happen step by step. We think that gradual changes may happen from within, that’s why we are modifying the existing social apps, including Twitter, Telegram and Whatsapp.
We also believe in that web3 social move with DAOs (groups), so naturally web3 chatroom (Discord) and web3 forum (Reddit) are needed
In the applications mentioned, the social protocols are or will be all implemented at the base level. For example, NextID and RSS3 are powering Firefly’s mixed feed. NextID and Web3MQ will power both Alphagram and Metachat’s chatting feature and allow cross app chats.
To sum up, the composability between protocols and apps can enable both seamless developer and user experience, facilitate ecosystem growth, and eventually bring millions of users to the new world.
Web3 Social Day (new updated Aug 26, 2024)
See this mind map above for a quick overview of Mask Ecosystem by program stage
Bounties
Scholarship and fellowship
Grants
Hackathons
More hackathons upcoming in the future
Now that you understand what the Mask ecosystem is composed of, we can now delve into toolkits that actually help you build the system.