Operating on the Internet Computer (ICP) network, OpenChat is a chat application built on the blockchain. It facilitates primarily crypto-focused chat rooms, some of which have several thousand users. Several of these chat groups include LootMoneyArmy (3,201 members), Magnetic (2,703 members), and DFinityVN (2,597 members).
OpenChat’s New Communities Feature Reinvents Group Interaction On Blockchain
The app’s development team initially introduced the Communities feature in February. They noticed that users were using the platform for purposes other than what they had first expected. Although the developers first planned for it to be used as an instant messaging tool similar to WhatsApp or Signal, users appeared more interested in using the software to create communities and open groups.
The developers acknowledged this interest but noted that the platform lacked the hierarchical structure of programs like Discord or Slack. This made groups on the platform less useful than they would have been by preventing group administrators from using it to establish subgroups to keep the conversation centered on particular subjects.
Eventually, the development team committed to introducing Communities in the future to address this issue and improve the app’s suitability for users interested in joining groups. The proposed feature would create “communities” in place of the current groups and let administrators construct “groups” inside of these communities, much like Discord does with channels inside of servers. According to their post, they also shared that administrators would also be able to make their communities private, providing them with a feature comparable to a Slack group.
According to the release from August 2, Communities is now live and accessible within the app.
The feature would eventually enable projects to embed OpenChat Communities directly in their own websites, removing the need to use third-party services like Discord or Slack, according to the platform’s co-founder Julian Jelfs in an interview with Cointelegraph.
The provision of integrations to other ecosystem apps is another noteworthy feature of the approach that Communities will enable, according to Jelfs. He stated that many other apps might benefit from an internal chat feature that wouldn’t force customers to leave their website or app.
Jelfs added that the group is testing a number of designs for this upcoming “Communities integration” system. Offering “server-to-server synchronization” between OpenChat and each project is one idea while making a collection of front-end components that projects might “drop in” to their interfaces is another. In either case, the integration would enable Web3 protocol users to interact with other users and receive technical support from administrators without leaving the apps they are currently using.
The “integrations” feature will not be a part of Communities at launch, the team emphasized, but it is anticipated to be added in a subsequent patch.
Conclusion
OpenChat recent “Communities” feature to its blockchain-based chat app is a big step toward changing how online groups interact with each other. As the blockchain-based communication landscape continues to change, OpenChat’s innovative method shows how decentralized technologies can change the way online groups work in the future.
