Summary of "Web Without Walls — Dan Abramov | React Universe Conf 2024"

Summary of “Web Without Walls — Dan Abramov | React Universe Conf 2024”

Key Technological Concepts and Product Features

1. Blue Sky and the AT Protocol

Blue Sky is a social media app similar to Twitter but built on a new Internet protocol called the AT protocol (also referred to as the “ad protocol” in the talk).
The Blue Sky frontend and backend are open source, developed with Expo and React Native, enabling rapid multi-platform development.
Usernames in Blue Sky are domain-based (e.g., username@domain.social), linking identity to internet domains. This adds trust and authenticity (e.g., accounts like washingtonpost.com are verifiably owned by The Washington Post).
Users can swap their domain-based username to their own domain if they own one.
Blue Sky allows users to write and plug in their own algorithms for content feeds, enabling customized social experiences beyond built-in algorithmic feeds (e.g., a “quiet posters” feed).

2. The AT Protocol (Atmosphere)

A decentralized, user-controlled data layer built on top of traditional social products.
Users own their data in repositories that hold JSON collections; these repositories are hosted on servers operated by users or companies.
Data is cryptographically signed by users, ensuring authenticity and tamper-resistance.
Domains act as human-readable aliases for identities, but actual data can be hosted anywhere.
The protocol supports linking between JSON records, allowing complex data relationships similar to how web pages link.
Supports mutable social data: posts, likes, events can be created, updated, or deleted.

3. Data Ownership and Portability

Unlike traditional social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) where users are “inside the box,” Blue Sky and the AT protocol put users “outside the box” with control over their data.
Data can persist independently of any single product or company.
Users can run their own servers or use third-party hosting, preventing vendor lock-in.
If a product dies, user data still exists and can be used by new or resurrected products.

4. Architecture and Scalability

The protocol uses a network relay node that aggregates and caches data from millions of user repositories.
This relay node distributes events to all consumers, allowing multiple independent backends to consume and filter data relevant to their app.
Running a relay node is relatively inexpensive (around $150/month at current scale).
Apps built on this protocol operate with a traditional client-server model but with a user-controlled backend layer feeding data into the servers.

5. Interoperability and Ecosystem

Multiple apps can build on the AT protocol, each defining their own JSON schemas (e.g., Blue Sky posts, Smoke Signal events).
Apps can reactively update based on changes in user data across the network without needing centralized APIs.
Enables building plugins, bootstrapping new apps using existing social graphs, and blurring boundaries between apps.
Example: A meetup-like app called Smoke Signal built on the AT protocol, integrated with Blue Sky identities and events.
Potential for apps to display content from other apps (e.g., Instagram showing posts from Threads-like apps).

6. Developer and Community Resources

Blue Sky and the AT protocol are open source with tutorials and documentation available at at.com and community resources at protocol.dev.
Early apps and demos exist, including a Hacker News clone and a meetup-style app built on the protocol.
The community is small but growing, with tech talks and active GitHub discussions.

7. Philosophical and Practical Implications

The talk emphasizes user control over data and the web as a permissionless, mutable, and interconnected space.
Critiques current social media models where users are locked into centralized platforms.
The AT protocol aims to restore the web’s original spirit by enabling social interaction without walls — hence the title “Web Without Walls.”
The approach is experimental but already in production with Blue Sky.
Even if Blue Sky or the company dies, the protocol and data remain, enabling others to continue or resurrect the ecosystem.

Guides, Tutorials, and Reviews Mentioned

Blue Sky App: Open source frontend and backend built with Expo and React Native.
AT Protocol Tutorial: Available on at.com, showing how to build apps on the protocol.
Community Site: protocol.dev, hosting tech talks and community discussions.
Example Apps:
- Smoke Signal (meetup-like app on AT protocol)
- Hacker News clone
GitHub Discussions: For deeper technical questions and community support.

Main Speaker

Dan Abramov — Software engineer at Blue Sky, speaker at React Universe Conf 2024.

Overall, the talk presents a novel decentralized social media architecture that empowers users with control over their data, enables interoperability across apps, and envisions a future web without centralized walls or silos.