Namer News

Today we are launching a new project for the Handshake community called Namer News. It has two core features we're excited to share: Login with Handshake, and native crypto link support.

Namer News was created in response to existing social platforms' lack of dWeb technology. It reveals a glimpse of the potential use cases for Handshake beyond purely DNS based applications. We hope this helps strengthen the relationship between Handshake community members, and can serve as a digital home for Namers (and potentially even the crypto community at large).

Login with Handshake

At the core of Namer News is its login functionality. To start, we got rid of passwords! All you'll need to do to log in to the site is select which of your Handshake names you'd like to build your profile around, and set a domain record with a single click. From there, you can browse, post, comment, and vote on the site just as you would any other platform. Other users will see your "username" as whichever Handshake name you selected.

This means that your identity is tied pseudonymously to an artifact that exists beyond the bounds of this one site. Should anything happen to you on Namer News - or any other platform that builds your identity around a Handshake domain - everyone can know for certain that your username is the same across the web.

This may seem trivial, but it's a concept that's foreign on the modern Internet. Currently, identity providers like Google allow you to authenticate using a service like Gmail. You can then login to third party sites using your email address, at which point you'll build a profile custom to that site. 

From here, you'll pick a username controlled by the site owners, and potentially even be required to go through some sort of verification process to say you are who you say you are (think 'blue checkmarks' on Twitter). Even if another platform allows you to duplicate your Twitter username on their platform, you're now that much more reliant on Twitter for your public facing identity, increasing lock in on their service just the same.

Google built Gmail on SMTP, an open protocol that lets any email provider, regardless of its creator, send and receive emails. Yet Google does not allow the option for you to switch email providers after you've created your Gmail. This only increases lock in to their service. 

By logging in with Handshake, you take control of both the authentication, and public facing identity aspects of your online identity. Namebase has created a domain record assistant that lets any developer help users through the record setting process. That said, anyone is more than welcome to set the TXT record themselves on Handshake domains stored in non-custodial wallets in order to log in to Namer News (and if you're feeling extra ambitious, you could even create your own OIDC implementation for your own application following the steps outlined here).

This system allows you to actually own the artifact responsible for authenticating you are who you say you are. Beyond this, it allows you to accrue reputation across the entire web, and breaks down many of the silos that the current Internet's design inherently enforces.

Native crypto links

Beyond using your Handshake name to log in, Namer News dog-foods dWeb technology in another substantial way: crypto links are natively supported.

Whether you're sharing a direct Skynet hash, IPFS link, or Handshake domain, any user will be able to immediately view the content you've decided to share. Rather than treating the crypto community as an after thought, we hope Namer News can function as a place to share what you've discovered across not just our current Internet, but the rapidly growing decentralized web.

If you're actively building a Web 3.0 project yourself, we hope this provides you with a valuable community with which you can share your work. Beyond this, simply commenting, voting, and participating on Namer News is a step towards enabling mass crypto adoption.

The new Internet is built to give everyone a voice. It thrives when everyone uses theirs. As a result, on this new Internet, mere discussions have the potential to decide its future.

Before Namer News, Handshake community members, and crypto users at large have been forced to have these discussions on platforms built for the needs of Web 2.0. We know now that there is a need for change.

Conclusion

Web 3.0 introduces a whole new set of assertions. As such, participants require a platform that recognizes the new Internet will be structured differently. We believe Namer News will turn Handshake casuals into Handshake maximalists as they experience the true ownership, and digital sovereignty that the technology enables. Click here to set up your account today. Happy naming!