IPFS releases browser extension to archive tweets

Decentralized storage community InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) has launched a browser extension referred to as “Pin Tweet to IPFS,” which permits customers to archive tweets on its community.

IPFS is a storage protocol and community designed to create a peer-to-peer methodology of storing and sharing recordsdata. It goals to interchange the normal, centralized mannequin of the net with a decentralized one in order that content material could be distributed straight between units, quite than being saved on a centralized server and accessed by means of a single level of failure.

Through the use of the brand new extension, customers have an possibility to make sure that their tweets are saved on IPFS and stay accessible at a later date. Moreover, because the knowledge is saved on a decentralized community, it provides an additional stage of safety by ensuring there is no single level of failure in case one thing goes incorrect. This may be useful for individuals who want dependable storage options for info that may face censorship or unintended deletion.

“What occurs when these websites endure monetary bother, change possession, or face acquisition? When the unique authors are censored or delete their posts? This will trigger a domino impact of misplaced content material, leaving us looking throughout the net for screenshots (that are simply manipulated), quoted textual content and archives,” IPFS famous, explaining the necessity for the service.

How does this extension work?

The extension, which is on the market on Chrome and Edge browser, could make it simpler for customers to add tweets and different net content material. It makes use of an archiving device referred to as WebRecorder to create verifiable archives of tweets in a Zip file format. These recordsdata can then be uploaded straight onto IPFS, permitting customers entry them through the community at a later date. The archived content material stays safe and tamper-proof, as every file is cryptographically signed by its creator earlier than being saved.

It’s price noting that it was already attainable to backup individuals’s tweets on IPFS, because the platform is designed to retailer any kind of knowledge in a distributed method. A technique to do that can be to make use of a device or software that may scrape tweets from Twitter after which add them to the community. One other approach can be to make use of a twitter API to tug the tweets after which add them. Nonetheless, Twitter’s API has a price restrict and it’s essential to have a developer account for this.

Many apps within the crypto area, like NFT marketplaces, use IPFS to retailer knowledge in a decentralized method that additionally permits for sooner and safer knowledge storage and retrieval. Moreover, the decentralized nature of the community permits these apps to bypass conventional factors of failure and censorship, making them extra resilient and open.