FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Murmur? Murmur is a new age microblogging platform that’s completely decentralized, user driven and user controlled. Murmur is built on top of the EOS blockchain.
Why microblogging? Microblogs are short pieces of digital content, typically 150-250 character worth. Due to their size, they are suitable for quick consumption. Twitter alone accounts for close to 200 billion tweets per year. We chose microblogging because it has been a proven way for ‘one to interact with all’ and in an efficient manner (reference).
Why blockchain? Blockchain is a distributed database, simultaneously maintained by numerous nodes of a democratic network, allowing people to transact freely with each other and without restrictions. For Murmur to achieve its goal of creating a fully decentralized, censorship-resistant and privacy-centric social network, blockchain provides the right kind of technical foundation.
Why EOS? EOS is a democratically governed, public blockchain network that enables users to transact for free (without having to pay GAS). This is critical because social networks are by nature action-intensive and require users to expend energy in creation and collaboration. On EOS, low cost of participation and operation help promote adoption of blockchain technology, while also catalyzing diverse business applications to exist on the blockchain. Other impressive points in EOS include human-readable account names and fast block confirmation times, which make for better user experience.
Why should a user move to Murmur? Murmur attempts to solve the problems of data control and exploitation rife in today's social media, by employing a distributed, publicly visible content database. It also offers the user a chance to take back real value for participating in the network. In essence, Murmur upends the existing ways of conventional social media platforms for the sake of authenticity and accountability. On Murmur, any user data marked private, is encrypted with their public key. Which means others can see the existence of this data, but only the owner and authorized receivers can decrypt it.
How to get started with Murmur?
You will first need to install the Android app. From there on, you can create a new EOS account and acquire EOS tokens to stake, or import an existing account. The EOS account directly acts as your Murmur account. Then, set up your identity with a picture and name (optional). And with that, you are ready to start murmuring!
Where are the user’s private keys stored? Private keys are only ever stored locally on the user’s device, and on no other location. Murmur does not ask for a user’s private keys and never stores it.
How can a user recover their account? In case of a hardware compromise, the user can recover their account through the backup phrase. If the user is unable to retrieve their backup phrase, then they can employ the help of two predefined friends, who can sign recovery requests (as per EOS protocol) on the user’s behalf.
What is a ‘murmur’? A murmur is a 256 character message that is published directly on the EOS Blockchain. These messages use no RAM (storage) as our contract is designed such that the text in the murmur moves on the metadata for each transaction, and not directly using up RAM. Hence this makes it easier for users to post Murmurs without worrying about RAM. But user actions do consume CPU (processing power) on the network. Users can manage usage and keep track of this by looking at stats.murmurdapp.com
What is a ‘yell’? A user can share a murmur they see on their Feed onto their own profile. This allows all of their followers to see the original murmur. This action is known as a Yell.
What is a ‘snoop’? Snoop is a way to depict your attention to a piece of content. This tells the creator of a murmur the number of users who have viewed their content.
What is a ‘whisper’? Whispers are private messages users send to one another on Murmur, encrypted end-to-end using public key encryption.
Does Murmur store user data? If so, how?
Murmur does not store any user data. Every user has a unique EOS account associated with their key-pair. Each EOS account can murmur, snoop, yell, and whisper with other EOS accounts. Personal information associated with the EOS account, especially and including private keys, are never asked nor captured. However, the user is requested to create a public profile that helps other members find them and interact with them. Only this data is stored on our servers, as well as on a decentralized database (Bluzelle). When the performance of the decentralized database becomes as fast as a centralized one, we intend to move our entire architecture onto Bluzelle.
How are users rewarded on Murmur? Users on Murmur are rewarded using a native EOS-based token known as MUR. MUR tokens are created every day in the form of ‘reward pools’, which are used to incentivize actions on the platform, including murmurs, yells, snoops, and whispers.
Why create own token?
The token provides the platform with a native currency, enabling an independent and decentralized economy on the web. Using our own token also means being resistant to the unpredictable fluctuations in other crypto/fiat currencies.
What are the mechanics behind the MUR token? The Token economics can be seen here.
Why create a wallet? Murmur wallet functions like any other EOS-based wallet, a place to store and transact digital assets, such as MUR. A secure mobile wallet will empower users on Murmur to not only store MUR tokens, but also any other tokens on the EOS blockchain, helping the ecosystem grow by promoting adoption.
Can I use the same account on both the Web and the mobile App? Yes, users are encouraged to use the same account on the Web and the App. That's what the WhatsApp-like web design is inspired by.
Is there Scatter integration? Yes, the web version has scatter integration.
What if I don't have an EOS account? Anyone can create an EOS account, and will have to lock in some EOS tokens to be entitled to an appropriate amount of network resources (this is called staking). Only for initial users, we will stake EOS to get started with. We have already integrated Google Pay (Android app) and are working on an iOS payment gateway, through which users can easily acquire EOS, stake for themselves and get started with using their EOS account.
Does Murmur support other DApps? Yes. Murmur supports other DApps through partnerships and mutual integrations, and also by listing their token in the in-app wallet. To do so, reach out to us on Telegram.
Why should DApps integrate with Murmur? Murmur is a social network built on microblogs, which are highly suitable for sharing real-time developments. A partner DApp can benefit from this by fostering a much needed community on the network, which drives engagement for both platforms through the creation of DApp specific murmurs, helping bring a social and communal aspect to the partner.
Which languages are supported by Murmur? Murmur is currently available in English. By January 2019, we plan on supporting Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
What devices is Murmur available on? The Alpha app is available on the Google Playstore for Android devices. The iOS and WebApp offerings are currently being built.
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