A pages/blog/identity.md

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+---
+template:
+slug: identity
+title: atproto and ownership of identity
+subtitle: The new age of social-enabled apps
+date: 2025-01-18
+draft: false
+---
+
+[atproto](https://atproto.com) is very exciting to me as it's the
+perfect abstraction between the identity and user data layer, and the
+application layer. Compare that to the fediverse and some striking
+differences become apparent.
+
+On the fediverse, your application -- Mastodon, Pleroma, WriteFreely,
+whatever -- and your user account are tied together. Your presence on say
+fosstodon.org isn't the same as what you'd use on Lemmy. This is
+partially due to both services implementing entirely different schemas
+of the ActivityPub spec[^1], and due to how AP addressing works: so
+@user@fosstodon.org is fundamentally distinct from @user@lemmy.ml.
+
+[^1]: Or in case of the Big M, doing things mostly their own way.
+
+atproto solves this using Personal Data Servers (PDS)[^2] and
+domain-based identities. This now allows for two levels of ownership:
+1. **Ownership of identity**: Use your own domain and now that's your
+   account across all of atproto.
+2. **Ownership of data**: Run your own PDS and store all of your data
+   yourself.
+
+[^2]: [atproto for distributed systems
+    engineers](https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers) is recommended reading.
+
+Thanks to this, users can re-use the same [DID](https://atproto.com/guides/identity)
+across other apps built on atproto. Consequently, new social apps have
+their two biggest problems solved for free:
+
+1. The need for a new account (for users), and
+2. The social graph.
+
+This paves the wave for all kinds of new "social-enabled" services to
+emerge: forums, long-form writing, and potentially even more complex
+ones like code forges and more -- all sharing the same account.
+
+Further, the separation of the app and user layers now allows for
+building "apps" that are viable businesses. The app layer can be a
+monetized service much like Bluesky's supposed "premium" model that's in
+the works. This is a good thing -- a financially viable open network is
+one that sticks around longer.
+
+There's also signs of early VC interest in atproto.
+[skyseed.fund](https://skyseed.fund/) is a fund focused solely on
+backing atproto projects. I predict this is the first of many. Given
+that building on atproto is so much easier than building a traditional
+social app from ground up, startups here can be small and scrappy
+without needing much seed capital to take off. Bluesky already having
+done the hard part of acquiring its 27M strong userbase, as of this
+writing, is the icing on the cake.
+
+So yes, bottom line, I think atproto has a promising future. There's a
+ton of cool stuff being built atop it already and as the network and
+protocol improve, I predict a new age of social apps with user-owned
+identity at its core.