# Holochain

## Powered by Holochain

Junto will be powered by [Holochain](https://holochain.org/), a biomimicry-inspired framework for building scalable, distributed apps. Our initial release runs on a centralized, open source graph database.

* Holochain is NOT blockchain. Holochain applies an agent-centric approach to distributed computing, rather than blockchain’s data-centric one.<br>
* Holochain does not leverage global consensus mechanisms like Proof-of-Work or Proof-of-Stake to achieve data integrity.<br>
* Instead, Holochain uniquely combines hash chains, DHTs, and gossip protocols to enable building secure, distributed apps at scale.

## Enhance User Sovereignty&#x20;

Leveraging Holochain enables us to address a host of important issues in the social media landscape.

* Our members will own their data and identity
* We don’t track, sell, or monetize user data
* Junto is more private and secure than its centralized counterparts
* Our platform will be more censorship-resistant
* No more data silos — our platform is interoperable and open source under MPL 2.0&#x20;

We are defining a [decentralized social media standard](https://github.com/juntofoundation/Holochain-Trait-Definitions) for greater interoperability.

## Making Web 3.0 Accessible

Our initial release runs on a centralized, open source graph database written in Rust. This enables us to be independent of Holochain’s success and make headway in refining our human-centered UX and building our community.

* To start, we are building our Direct Messaging feature on Holochain and are aiming to integrate it with our centralized app by the start of 2021. <br>
* Our goal is for our members to be able to seamlessly toggle between the centralized and decentralized environments using the same UI. We will fully migrate to Holochain when it makes sense.<br>
* We will not track or sell user data in either context.


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