IRJET - Ethegram - An Ethereum and IPFS-based Decentralized Social Network System

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 04 | Apr 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.34 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1978
Ethegram - An Ethereum and IPFS-based Decentralized Social Network
System
Hrishikesh Bawane1, Tanuja Shinde2, Abhishek Kadam3, Yash Budukh4, Prof. Pooja Mundhe5
1-4B.E. Student, Information Technology, MIT College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, India
5Assistant Professor, MIT College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, India
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Abstract - In today's world, most of the services are
controlled by a centralized authority, causing concerns
regarding user privacy, bandwidth usage and security of user
data. As the blockchain technology has evolved, it has caused
many applications to be distributedand decentralized without
the loss of security. Ethereum is an open-source, blockchain-
based, decentralized software platform. It enables Smart
Contracts and Decentralized Applications (DApps) to be built
and run without any downtime or interference from a third
party. The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol and
peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a
distributed file system. Several DApps have been created with
the use of these technologies and one such applicationistouse
this design for a decentralized Social Media system that is
resistant to censorship and single point of failure. In this
paper, we propose Ethegram, a social network decentralized
application created using these technologies and a simple
rewards system. In addition, this paper examines how
blockchain and distributed storage can solve the problems
prevalent in traditional social network systems.
Key Words: Decentralized Application, Social Network,
Blockchain, Ethereum, InterPlanetary File System, Smart
Contract
1. INTRODUCTION
Blockchain, the technology that runs bitcoin, has been
the top trending buzzword in technology for many years
now. Blockchain is a distributed ledgerthatcanbedescribed
as a ledger of transactions or contracts maintained in
decentralized form at many different locations, eliminating
the need for a central authority to keep a check against
manipulation. All the information on it is securely and
accurately stored using cryptographic hash functions. The
use of social network services like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc. has increased exponentially over the last
decade. These platforms have a largenumberofusersacross
the world. Among many other incidents, recently, Facebook
was again caught on the back foot over its data privacy
practices, disclosed by the New York Times which brought
the security and privacy issues of social media networkstoa
higher level [1]. Thus, many researches are running through
to overcome the challenges faced by existing social media
platforms.
Due to the traditional client-server model, social media
clients often suffer from service unavailability duringserver
downtime or when server faces issues of single point of
failure or DDoS attacks [2]. For example, Bitcoin blockchain
was used to provide decentralized content trust for docker
images to resist potential threats in docker content trust[3].
It is a well-known fact that governments of some countries
have blocked social media services based on the IPs used by
the social media servers. It is quite obvious that blockchain
technology provides a way to address issues existing in the
industry. Blockchain technology enables decentralization
and security for the social media services, which makes it
available duringserverdowntimeor evenagainstcensorship
from governments or Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Blockchain-based social networks are the future. They
are the next generation of networks which will help an
individual in many ways. Users will get control over their
personal data. Users will get better compensation for their
contribution. Users will be able to moderate the content
according to them. Finally, users will get faster and cheaper
payments from all over the world.
In this paper, we propose Ethegram, a social media
platform developed by using the state-of-the-art o
blockchain technology and introduce a social networking
decentralized application. The application is based on
Ethereum blockchain platform [4] for data records and IPFS
[5] for distributed data storage service. The application
would reward users for quality content they contribute on
the platform. The Smart Contract of this decentralized
application is deployed on the Ethereum Virtual Machine
(EVM) and the frontend webpageUI oftheapplicationwould
interact with it using web3.js collection of libraries. The
purpose of developing this application is to emphasize the
significance of blockchain technology in improving
traditional social media architectures.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2
provides an overview of the technologies and concepts used
in the development of application. Section 3 describes every
aspect of the proposed solution in depth while section 4
presents the related work on similar approaches using
blockchains and decentralized architectures for social
networking and we conclude with section 5.
2. BACKGROUND
In this section we will discuss the technologies and
concepts that are used to build Ethegram. This section
includes brief introduction to Blockchain, Ethereum Virtual

Machine, IPFS (InterPlanetary file system), and Smart
Contracts.
2.1 Blockchain
Blockchain is a continuouslygrowingchainof blocks,each
of which contains a cryptographic hash of the previousblock,
a time-stamp, and its conveyed data. Due to the existence of
the cryptographic hash, the data stored in a blockchain are
inherently resistant to modification: if one block of data is
modified, all blocks afterward should be regenerated with
new hash values. This feature of immutability is fundamental
to blockchain applications. Maintenance of peer-to-peer
(P2P) ledgers for cryptocurrencies has become the first
applicationofblockchain.Thousandsofcryptographictokens,
or coins, were delivered to the public market, after the huge
leap in market cap of Bitcoin. Ethereumisablockchain-based
decentralized platform featuring smart contract functionality
[6]. It supports stateful contracts in which values can persist
on the blockchain to be used in multiple invocations.
Fig - 1: Basic blockchain structure
2.2 Ethereum Virtual Machine
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a powerful,
sandboxed virtual stack embedded within eachfullEthereum
node, responsible for executing contract bytecode. Contracts
are typically written in higher level languages, like Solidity,
then compiled to EVM bytecode. Thismeansthatthemachine
code is completely isolated from the network, file system or
any processes of the host computer. Every node in the
Ethereum network runs an EVM instance which allows them
to agree on executing the same instructions. The EVM is
Turing complete, which refers to a system capable of
performing any logical step of a computational function.
JavaScript, the programming language which powers the
worldwide web, widely uses Turing completeness.
2.3 Smart Contract
A smart contract is a piece of program which runs on the
blockchain and its execution is examined and enforced bythe
relevant consensus protocol. Smart contract is a special
protocol designed to contribute, verify or implement the
negotiation or performance of the contract [7]. It is a
computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify, or
enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. Smart
contracts allow the performance of credible transactions
without third parties. These transactions are traceable and
irreversible. Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and
agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous
parties without the need for a central authority, legal system,
or external enforcement mechanism. A smart contract is
invoked in current cryptocurrencies by sending transactions
to the contract address deployed on the blockchain. This will
cause a state change that will be reflected in the change of
account balance or the state value of contract.
2.4 InterPlanetary File System (IPFS)
The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol and
peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a
distributed file system. IPFS uses content-addressing to
uniquely identify each file in a global namespace connecting
all computing devices. IPFS allows users to not only receive
but host content, in a similar manner to BitTorrent. As
opposed to a centrally located server, IPFS is built around a
decentralized system of user-operators who hold a portion
of the overall data, creating a resilient system of file storage
and sharing. Any user in the network can serve a file by its
content address, and other peers in thenetwork canfind and
request that content from any node who has it using a
distributed hash table (DHT).
3. PROPOSED SOLUTION
In this section, we will discuss all the architectural and
design components of our proposed solution.
3.1 System Overview
Blockchain 2.0 technology (i.e., smart contract) has
enabled a distributed P2P network between non-trusting
peers without a third-party intermediary. We aim to apply
the knowledge of Ethereum blockchain and smart contract
for finding solutions to real world issues. This task is to
develop a decentralized social network applicationbased on
Ethereum blockchain along with the use of InterPlanetary
File System as the distributed storage service and hence
bring merits to the current social media network
architecture. The task also includes providing a
straightforward,content-basedrewardssystemfortheusers
in order to compensate them for the quality content they
contribute to the platform.
3.2 Architecture Design
The Smart Contract of this application will manage the
entire transactions of the DApp (See Appendix).Theuserwill
have to register once initially with his/her wallet/account
address and this user address will be stored in a mapping in
the smart contract. Each account on the application will be
bound to a single account address only, in order to avoid
creation of multiple accounts from same address. This smart
contract will be deployed on Ethereum Virtual Machine and

the frontend UI will interact with users. Hence, the entire
system forms a three-level architecture where the frontend
UI is responsible foruserinteractionwhiletheweb3andIPFS
libraries are responsible for API calls from frontend client to
the backend blockchain and the IPFS storage respectively.
Figure 2 shows a complete view of the system structure. At
the top is the frontend UI, which is in charge of receivinguser
input for registration data, posts data and messages and
passing them to the web3 library and IPFS library. The web3
library then interacts with underlying Ethereum blockchain
system for function calls, contract deployment and fund
transfers. IPFS library is invokedwhentheusercreatesapost
with an image or video, or when the user sends a message in
the chat system of the application. The image, video or chat
messagesare stored on the IPFS data storageandaIPFShash
is returned which is stored on blockchain as record data.
Fig - 2: System Architecture
3.3 Application Design
The entire system comprises of three main components,
namely the backend Ethereum blockchain, IPFS storage and
frontend web UI. When the client starts, the user can register
into the application only if he/she is not already registered.
This is handled by the users mapping and frontend. If the
account address of user already exists in the users mapping,
the frontend registration is disabled, else the frontend sends
a transaction along with 0.002 Ether (the cryptocurrency of
Ethereum blockchain) to the blockchain and a new user
account is registered with the application. This amount goes
into the contract balance and it enables the contract to
reward the users based on the likes (or upvotes) their
content gets. It also discourages malicious actors to get
registered on the application.
Fig - 3: Process for registering
While creating a new post (see Figure 4), if an image or video
is uploaded by the user along with the post, the frontend
client loads the image or video intoabytearrayandsendsthe
byte data to IPFS storage endpoint through IPFS library.
When the data storage is successful, it returns the
corresponding IPFS hash in return. This hash is storedonthe
blockchain and is later used to retrieve the image or video
when required. All the postdataalongwithcreator'saddress,
image/video IPFS hash and current timestamp is sent as a
transaction to the blockchain along with an amount of 0.001
Ether to the blockchain and the post is created. Other users
can now like (upvote) or comment on the post.
Fig - 4: Process for creating post
As Solidity does not support passing of complex data
structures like array of strings, the messages of chat system
of the application are stored as a single string with
delimiters to indicate separate messages. When the user
wants to send a message in the chat system (see Figure 5), it
first retrieves the previous messages stored as byte data on
the IPFS storage using the IPFS hash of chat messagesstored
on the blockchain. The frontend clientconvertsthe bytedata
into string, appends the current message and again sends it
to IPFS storage endpoint in the form of byte array. The IPFS
hash returned is then replaced and storedontheblockchain.
Fig - 5: Process for sending message

3.4 Rewards System
When the user creates a post, other users of the
application can view and upvote the post if they like the
content. Each upvote generates a single token in the
application account of the creator. This token count can be
seen in the UI profile section of the user. These tokens can be
redeemed into Ethers from the platform itself. The funds are
directly transferred to the accountaddress from thecontract
balance. Each token when redeemed gives 0.0001 Ether.
Thus, the cost of creating a new post is recovered when the
user receives 10 upvotes on his post. More upvotes would
ensure that the one-time registration cost is also recovered.
This makes the rewards system purely content dependent.
Content creatorsare rewardedonlybasedonhowmuchtheir
content is liked by other users of the application.
3.5 Smart Contract Design
The Smart Contract of this DApp consists of two main
components: one is the User structure array and the other is
the Post structurearray. The User structurearray storesdata
of all registered users of the application. The data comprises
of componentslikeuser'sname,accountaddress,countofthe
posts he/she has created, total tokens and redeemable
tokens. The name and account address are recorded when
the user registers initially on the application, while the count
of posts is incremented with every new post created by the
user. The redeemable tokens show thenumberoftokensthat
can be redeemed into Ether. Once redeemed, the
corresponding number is decremented from theredeemable
tokens. Total tokens and redeemabletokensareincremented
every time the creator receives an upvote on any of his/her
posts.
Another component is the Post structure array which
stores entire data of posts that are uploaded by the users on
the platform. It includes the content created by the user
consisting of text, images or videos in the form of IPFS hash,
creator's address, timestamp, commentsstring andmapping
which stores the users' addresses who have liked (upvoted)
the post. When a user upvotes a certain post, the user’s
address is stored in this mapping so as to ensure that he/she
would not like the same post again.
4. RELATED WORK
Several previous and current works have been working
on developing decentralized applications with the use of
Ethereum and IPFSas distributeddatastore.Herewediscuss
these applications and also the work that we referred to for
insights and development of our application.
4.1 Akasha Project
Akasha is built on top of Ethereum and aims to solve the
problem of impermanence of information online [8]. The
cornerstones of the Akasha stack are Ethereum and IPFS,
augmented by Electron, React with Redux, and Node.js. The
Akasha Project also aims to build a knowledge architecture
for social human advocacy in the context of social networks,
freedom of expression, creative perpetuity and privacy for a
better Internet in service of humanity.
4.2 Synereo
Synereo provides a decentralized and distributed social
network designed for an attention economy. It offers a
platform more as a social market place.
4.3 Ushare
Ushare provided a conceptual solution forcreatingauser
centric social network that would enable users to control,
trace and securely share content [9]. It also supported offsite
encryption of data and mechanisms to share them through
the blockchain.
These solutions are still in their early phase of inception
and are not available for evaluation. Even if the underlying
technologies may coincide with Ethegram, the features
provided or problems solved by them differ. Unlike these
solutions,Ethegramprovidesarobustandprofitablerewards
system which incentivizes the time spent by the users on the
platform. Ethegram also provides a chat feature over the
securedarchitectureforusers to interact with otheruserson
the platform.
5. CONCLUSIONS
Misuse and monetization of userdata bythe social media
companies, censorship issues, data security and data
availability issues due to centralized industry are major
concerns of people using social networks worldwide. In this
paper, we presented a possible solution to these problems
with the development of Ethegram, a social network as a
decentralized web application. In addition, our proposed
platform Ethegram, would also reward users based on the
quality content they contribute to the platform. All the
mentioned functionalities were successfully developed. The
most important components of our underlying technologies
due to which a purely decentralized application was
developed are Ethereum blockchain and IPFS distributed
storage system.
Future work needs to be done in order to develop the
same as a mobile application without compromising on any
of the aspects of web application. The smart contract of the
application can also be improved sinceSolidity,thelanguage
of Ethereum Smart Contracts, currently does not support
passing of complex data structures like multi-dimensional
arrays.

6. APPENDIX
Fig - 6: Smart Contract with list of functions
7. REFERENCES
[1] (2018) Facebook Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
[Online]. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93C
ambridge Analytica data scandal.
[2] Quanqing Xu, Zhiwen Song, Rick Siow Mong Goh,
Yongjun Li, "Building an Ethereum and IPFS-based
Decentralized Social Network System", 2018 IEEE 24th
International Conference on Parallel and Distributed
Systems (ICPADS).
[3] Q. Xu, C. Jin, M. F. B. M. Rasid, B. Veeravalli, and K. M. M.
Aung, "Blockchain-based decentralizedcontenttrustfor
docker images", Multimedia Tools and Applications, pp.
1–26, 2017.
[4] (2018) Ethereum project. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ethereum.org/.
[5] (2018) Interplanetary file system. [Online]. Available:
https://ipfs.io/.
[6] Q. Xu, K. M. M. Aung, Y. Zhu, and K. L. Yong, “A
blockchain-based storage system for data analytics in
the internet of things,” in New Advances in the Internet
of Things. Springer, 2018, pp. 119–138.
[7] A. Tar. (July 26 2018) Smart contracts, explained.
[Online]. Available: https://cointelegraph.com/
explained/smart-contracts-explained.
[8] (2018) Akasha project. [Online]. Available:
https://akasha.world/.
[9] Antorweep Chakravorty and Chunming Rong, “Ushare:
user controlled social media based on blockchain”,
Conference Paper – January 2017.

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